KNEC: Junior secondary sample exam papers are available for free

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has announced that sample examination papers for the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) are now available for free.

These papers, intended for schools to use for preparation, can be accessed through the KNEC portal.

KNEC's Chief Executive Officer, David Njegere, while announcing urged schools and educational stakeholders to make use of the free resources.

"These papers are free. We know there are enterprising Kenyans who will want to download them and start selling them to schools," he said, warning against any attempts to profit from the sample papers.

The sample papers are part of KNEC's preparations for the 2024 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), which will be administered to students in Grade 9.

KJSEA, which replaced the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), is part of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) assessments.

Njegere also highlighted other key assessments that KNEC will be overseeing this year. In addition to the KJSEA, KNEC will conduct the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for the third cohort of CBC students.

This will also include the Kenya Prevocational Level Education, which will be offered to an estimated 5,306 candidates with special needs.

In preparation for the KJSEA, KNEC carried out a pilot programme in July 2024, involving 235 schools from all counties.

The pilot programme, which saw more than 5,000 learners participate, provided valuable data to develop the final assessment blueprint.

"The findings from the pilot were used to develop the assessment blueprint," Njegere explained.

The pilot test involved a diverse group of learners, with 5,125 students following the regular curriculum and 750 students with special needs.

The special needs schools involved in the pilot programme included those catering to visual impairments, hearing impairments, and physical disabilities. KNEC also administered questionnaires to learners, aimed at gauging their personality and interests.

In terms of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), Njegere shared that the 2024 KCSE exams began on October 28, with 965,501 candidates registered, marking a 6.89 per cent increase in the number of candidates compared to 2023.

He commended centre managers for their efforts to ensure that all candidates were registered accurately and within the stipulated timeframes.

Njegere also shared that the government had contracted 32,800 examiners this year, an increase from 29,876 in 2023, to ensure the exams were marked promptly and accurately.