Dr. Belio Kipsang’, Principal Secretary of Basic Education, has stated that the Ministry has recorded a higher number of pregnant candidates sitting for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in hospital compared to 2023.
Speaking in Kikuyu during the distribution of KCSE examination papers on Friday, the PS said that the community should be worried about the increase of female candidates sitting for exams in hospitals.
“Numbers of girls sitting examination in hospitals have slightly gone up, parents let us engage our children so that we can protect them against situations that expose them to teenage pregnancies,” said the PS.
Dr. Kipsang’ also urged the teachers to take up roles of counseling the girls.
On Monday, November 4, Narok County recorded three girls sitting for the exams after delivering a few hours to the exam commencement.
The County Director of Education (CDE) Apolo Apuko confirmed that the girls are from St Antony’s Secondary School in Narok East sub-county, Namnyak Girls in Narok West and Chepkoiyet Secondary in Trans Mara East, where a candidate gave birth to twins at Ndanai Hospital.
In Meru, two candidates gave birth at a public hospital in Imenti North sub-county.
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In Kiambu, a 17-year-old went into labour while in the examination hall, prompting the officials to rush her to a nearby hospital where she delivered.
The 2024 KCSE officially kicked off on October 22, with candidates taking oral and practical exams for elective subjects while main exams started on Monday.
According to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) the last day of the exams will be November 22, when the candidates will sit for the Physics practical paper.
KNEC indicated that a record 965,501 candidates are participating in this year’s exams, held across 10,755 centers. Last year 903,138 candidates sat for the exams.
By Obegi Malack | obegimalack@gmail.com
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