MPs demand action over 9,000 pupils who missed 2023 KCPE
Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi urged Parliament to ensure the affected pupils are facilitated to resit the exam and continue with their education.
Members of Parliament are pushing the government to urgently intervene in the case of over 9,000 pupils who failed to sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in 2023, warning that the learners could be permanently locked out of the education system as Kenya fully shifts to Competency-Based Education (CBE).
Raising the issue in the National Assembly, Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi urged Parliament to ensure the affected pupils are facilitated to resit the exam and continue with their education.
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She explained that most of them missed the test due to unavoidable challenges and should not be left behind.
“More than 9,000 pupils did not sit the KCPE examination in 2023 and other years, the majority being girls affected by pregnancies, illness and other circumstances,” she said.
Figures from the Kenya National Examinations Council show that 9,354 out of 1,406,557 registered candidates missed the final KCPE.
Of those registered, 721,544 were boys and 685,017 girls.
A total of 1,406,557 candidates sat for the KCPE 2023 exams.
Then-Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced that only two candidates were involved in exam malpractices during the exams.
Machogu said one of the candidates was found with unauthorised notes while the other one was found with a mobile phone.
The results marked the last examinations under the 8-4-4 education system, which has since been replaced with the Competency-Based Curriculum.
Elachi noted that many of the pupils who were unable to take the test are still interested in continuing with their education.
She also raised concerns that the same group of students could face further exclusion from the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, which will be administered for the last time in 2027, officially bringing the 8-4-4 curriculum to an end.
The National Assembly is now seeking clarification from the Ministry of Education on how the transition will be managed, including how KCPE qualifications will be converted into assessments under the new CBE framework to allow learners to progress to senior secondary school.
MPs want the government to outline clear guidelines to ensure that no pupil is left behind during the transition from the 8-4-4 system to the new curriculum.
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