8 | National News

CS directs
schools to
form boards

SATURDAY NATION
August 1, 2015

MURDER| Man to undergo test

Mixed reaction to
ban on mock exams
The pressure
caused by tests not
good, while union
boss says it helps
students to prepare

BY NATION
CORRESPONDENT
Education Cabinet Secretary
Jacob Kaimenyi (above) has
directed county directors of
education to set up boards of
management in all schools.
Prof Kaimenyo noted that
schools need the boards to effectively run their activities.
A number of schools already
have the boards. Those that are
yet to constitute theirs should
do so, said the CS who spoke
at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development yesterday
during a stakeholders forum
on students unrest.
The boards recruit secondary
schools teachers and submit
them to the teachers commission, among other tasks.
However, the Kenya National Teachers and Parents
Association is opposed to the
formation of the boards until
it is given a major role.
Prof Kaimenyi has gazetted
regulations paving the way for
formation of the boards.

EDUCATION | Some think its good, others disagree

BY OUMA WANZALA

owanzala@ke.nationmedia.com

SULEIMAN MBATIAH| NATION

Mr Bernard Kibet Rono when he appeared in the High

Court in Nakuru yesterday charged with the murder of Ms
Ann Cherotich at Kiptendee Village. The court ordered a
mental checkup for him and that he be assigned a lawyer
before he takes a plea on August 12.

he ban on mock examinations has been

welcomed and condemned in equal measure.
A Moi University lecturer
Okumu Bigambo said too many
examinations in schools were
destroying the reasoning and
attitude of students.
However, Kenya National
Parents and Teachers Association Chairman Nathan Barasa
opposed the ban.
Mock exams help students
prepare eectively, said Mr
Barasa.
Supporters of the ban said
the mock exams were being
used to gauge the candidates
performance in the national
tests at the end of the year.
But the Kenya National
Examinations Council said it

does not use the mock examinations for grading at the end
of the year.
The councils chief executive
ocer, Dr Joseph Kivilu, said
mock exams were organised by
schools to evaluate students
preparedness for the national
tests.
He added that the internal
tests have nothing to do with
the nal examinations administered by the council.
BACKGROUND

Decision aimed at
averting unrest
The Education ministry
on Thursday announced
the ban on mock exams in
schools in a bid to contain
increasing cases of student
unrest.
Cabinet Secretary Jacob
Kaimenyi said schools
would only be allowed to
conduct internal tests, saying that mock exams were
exerting unnecessary pressure on students.

Prof Bigambo said too many

examinations in schools were
destroying the reasoning and
attitude of students.
The students have class
assignments, weekend tuition
and mock examinations. They
have no time to do other things
as they only think of examinations, he said.
He said life in school should
not be about examinations only,
adding that students need to
be trained holistically.
Examinations stress students and we have to give them
a break. With this pressure, the
students end up not seeing anything good in society, added
Prof Bigambo.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary
Education Teachers Chairman
Omboko Milemba said: Many
students are worried that the
mock exams are a gauge for
the nal exams. Thats why
they are under pressure to
score high.
Director of Secondary and
Tertiary Education Robert
Masese said students in some
schools mistakenly believe results of mock exams are used
in grading them in the national
tests.