Kenya: 1M students start exams amid rising virus deaths

NAIROBI, Kenya

After a five-month delay, Kenya’s primary school national exams finally kicked off Monday amid a rise in COVID-19 deaths.

The exams for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will end on Wednesday, with 1.187 million candidates sitting for them nationwide.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said it had taken measures to ensure that all students affected due to issues such as floods and COVID-19 sit for their national exams without interruption.

“Every child that should sit for examinations has been taken care of. Every child deserves a chance," said commission head Nancy Njeri Macharia.

But some parents are worried. Loise Gakii Wangari's child is a student at Salama Primary School in Nairobi.

“As a parent, I feel the exams were rushed, but I wish everyone the best of luck," she told Anadolu Agency. “My worry is the safety of our children during the exams."

The KCPE papers are normally scheduled for November, but the education calendar was affected by the pandemic and students were away from school for almost a year.

As many as 1,130 people in Kenya tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total to 122,040. Another 12 people also died of the disease, pushing the death toll to 2,023, while 90,376 people have recovered.

On March 19 this year, a record 28 coronavirus deaths were confirmed in the East African country.