New ministry circular announces early school closings
The Ministry of Education has released a new circular addressing County and Sub County Directors, dated October 13, 2023. This circular details adjustments to the third-term school closing dates. Schools were supposed to close on October 27, 2023, but that date coincided with KCPE and KPSEA candidates’ rehearsal day. To accommodate this important event, the Ministry has decided to move the end of term three forward.
Nursery, primary, and secondary schools will now formally end the school year on October 25, 2024, making room for national examinations. The KCPE examination will not be held this year, but instead the KPSEA and KILEA exams will be held.
The first term in the new academic calendar for 2024 will run 13 weeks, the second term 14 weeks, and the third term 9 weeks. This alteration in the school closure date is also noteworthy since it affects the calendar for national examinations.
Candidates in Grade Six and Standard Eight will take their KPSEA and KCPE exams from October 30 to November 2, 2023. The KCSE examinations, on the other hand, will begin on November 3 and will last through November 24, 2023.
Notably, this term represents the final batch of KCPE students enrolled under the 8-4-4 system, which is being phased out in favor of the 2-6-3-3-3 Competency-Based Curriculum. According to the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), roughly 2.3 million applicants are anticipated to take the KCPE and KCSE exams this year. The KCPE examinations will be taken by 1,415,315 candidates, while the KCSE exams will be taken by 903,260 students.
The KNEC CEO, David Njengere, has stated that preparations for candidates, including the 1,282,574 Grade Six students taking the KPSEA exams, are ready. For the 2023 KCSE, KCPE, and KPSEA exams, a total of 1,143 containers will be used, with distribution centers selected for each.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has approved 223,223 teachers to act as supervisors and invigilators for the national exams this year. An additional 37,731 instructors have been vetted to serve as examiners, and the marking procedure will begin on November 27 and will last through December 15, 2023.
