KNEC Confesses to Mistakes in 2023 KCSE Grade Anomalies
On Tuesday, April 9, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) confessed a mistake in its printing of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
According to KNEC, the system glitch resulted in the removal of minus indications (-) for certain grades. This meant that some students’ grades were printed as a D (plain) rather than a D- (minus).
The National Assembly Education Committee questioned Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu and KNEC Chief Executive Officer David Njengere about grade disparities in the 2023 KCSE exams, revealing this information.
The committee learned during the questioning that this issue had impacted 3,018 candidates at 1,059 examination centers nationwide.
However, in its defense, KNEC maintained that the online portal accurately displayed the results and that any anomalies were limited to the printed nominal rolls issued to schools.
KNEC stated that it had subsequently given revised printouts to the impacted schools. MPs expressed concern about the suffering the impacted students had endured and the confusion the blunders had caused.
CS Ezekiel Machogu said that the Ministry of Education had taken precautions to prevent similar incidents in the future.
He announced the formation of a technical team, which included representatives from the ICT Authority, the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Unit, and the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy.
The official stated that the team submitted its report to the Ministry of Education via a letter dated March 4, 2024.
A multi-sectoral ICT committee was proposed to oversee the examination process, from marking to result release, as well as conduct periodic load testing to evaluate system capability.
KNEC was also required to modernize its IT infrastructure and establish continuous performance monitoring to proactively uncover potential flaws.
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On January 8, CS Ezekiel Machogu announced the availability of the 2023 KCSE exam results. Parents discovered significant abnormalities, raising worries about the results’ legitimacy.
This comes after some schools reported varying results when logging into the KNEC official webpage. According to the results released, the grades in various disciplines had changed, raising concerns.
KNEC Confesses to Mistakes in 2023 KCSE Grade Anomalies
