KNEC Reveals System Error That Led to Students Getting Higher Grades in 2023 KCSE
On Tuesday, April 9, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) acknowledged an error in the printing of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
As per KNEC, a technical issue resulted in the absence of negative signs (-) for certain grades. Consequently, some students received grades like D (plain) instead of D- (minus) on their printed results.
This information came to light following an inquiry by the National Assembly Education Committee, during which Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu and KNEC Chief Executive Officer David Njengere faced questioning about inconsistencies in the 2023 KCSE exam grades.
During the interrogation, the committee learned that 3,018 individuals from 1,059 examination centers throughout the country were impacted by this mistake.
Nevertheless, KNEC defended itself by stating that the online portal accurately displayed the results, with any discrepancies solely existing in the printed nominal rolls provided to schools.
KNEC additionally stated that it had provided corrected printouts to schools impacted by the issue. Members of Parliament expressed worries about the distress students went through and the confusion caused by the mistakes.
CS Ezekiel Machogu provided additional clarification, stating that the Ministry of Education had implemented measures to avoid repeating such incidents in the future.
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“A technical team was constituted, with representation from the Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy, the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Unit and the ICT Authority,” Machogu stated.
“By a letter dated March 4, 2024, the team submitted its report to the Ministry of Education”, he added.
A suggestion was put forward to create a multi-sectoral ICT committee tasked with supervising the entire examination process, from marking to the release of results and conducting routine load tests to evaluate system capacity.
KNEC was additionally required to enhance its IT infrastructure and establish ongoing performance monitoring to detect potential issues in advance.
CS Ezekiel Machogu declared the publication of the 2023 KCSE exam outcomes on January 8. Nevertheless, doubts emerged regarding the validity of the results when parents noticed significant irregularities.
This follows multiple schools experiencing varying outcomes upon accessing the official KNEC portal. According to the results that were disclosed, there were discrepancies in the grades of various subjects, causing concern.
KNEC Reveals System Error That Led to Students Getting Higher Grades in 2023 KCSE