Court suspends Kenya National Examinations Council mid-year exam

A high court sitting in Kisii has suspended the ongoing registration for mid-year series of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam. Kisii High Court Lady Justice Teresa Odera ordered the Kenya National Examinations Council to halt registering candidates until a case filed by Magare Gikenyi, a Nakuru-based doctor, challenging process is heard. Gikenyi said there was to lack of public participation in the decision-making process. Justice Odera said the application met the threshold for granting of conservatory orders, and issued the orders until a hearing by both parties. The Kenya National Examinations Council scheduled the mid-year exam for July to enable candidates to retake the exam to improve their previous grades. The candidates would be categorized as full repeaters sitting seven or more subjects, or partial repeaters sitting less than seven subjects. But Gikenyi argued that the KNEC guidelines have created two categories of candidates, one group with limited time to prepare for the July exam and another with a longer period before sitting for the exam in November. KNEC had scheduled the registration for the mid-year exam to run from January 26 to February 21, 2025.