Magoha: Destroy all success cards with politicians images
Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha has directed teachers to destroy all success cards bearing the portrait of a politician.
He’s also directed education officials in partnership with County Commissioners to ensure such cards are destroyed before they reach students.
“Ensure you destroy any success messages sent to students bearing political portraits without fear or favour. Our children are not in politics they are just children,” he warned.
He was speaking in Kakamega County, where he paid a visit to Mwiyala Secondary School, for a groundbreaking ceremony for Competency-Based-Curriculum (CBC) classes.
Students are set to sit for their national examinations in March.
The CS also urged the leader who will take over after President Uhuru Kenyatta not to interfere with the smooth running of education programmes.
Magoha stressed that as a civil servant he will not allow anyone to interfere with the education calendar where national exams are expected to be done in December.
“As civil servants, we are mandated to ensure the continuation of government programmes and we appeal for those who will take over after President Kenyatta term ends to ensure the already existing programmes go on without interference,” he added.
Magoha said the academic dates are well slated and whoever will take the leadership of the country should support the smooth running of the education of children.
“We are heading to a transition period in our country and politicians are politicians, one can come up with his or her own views which may disrupt the education of our children,” the CS said.
“Politics should not be allowed to interfere with the administration of December exams as, by next year, the academic calendar will go back to the dates it used to be before the country was hit by Covid-19 pandemic,” he further added.
He asked candidates who are waiting for national exams from March this year not to be scared as the ministry has taken into consideration of constricted academic timelines.
“We are very much aware of the constricted time during this academic year so marking of the exams will be fair. Candidates should not worry but take the exams with confidence,” noted the CS.
The crash academic calendar will have four terms and five national exams.
The national exams will include for students in Grade 6, plus two sets of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams for Standard 8, and Form 4 learners.
Students in primary and secondary returned for Term 3 of the school year – a 9 week period that will run from January 4 to March 4, 2022.
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations will take place from March 7 – 10, 2022.
The students currently in Class 8 will be the second-last batch of learners under the 8-4-4 system to sit for KCPE.
Students currently in Form Four in secondary schools will sit for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination between March 11 and April 1, 2022.
A fresh school year will then follow with Term 1 running from April 25 to July 1, 2022 – a 10-week period.
After a short break, schools will reopen for Term 2 from July 11 to September 16, another 10-week period.
Schools will then reopen for Term 3 from September 26 to November 25, a nine-week stretch. The second KCPE and KCPE examinations squeezed to fit in 2022 will then take place.
Primary school students currently in Class Seven will take on their KCPE exams from November 28 and December 1, 2022.
Notably, a new government will be in place with an election scheduled for August 2022.
Students currently in Form 3 in Secondary Schools will sit for their KCSE from December 1 to December 23, 2022.
The Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) pioneer class, currently at Grade 5, will also transition to Grade 6 in July and sit their first national assessment in November and December.
The exam will represent 40 percent of their test scores with 60 percent drawn from school-based assessments administered at grades Four, Five and Six.
In total, there will be five national examinations taking place in 2022. According to the CS George Magoha-led education ministry, all the exams have already been set.