20,000 pupils aged under 13 to sit for KCPE

THERE are about 20, 000 under age candidates who will sit for this year's Kenya Certificate for Primary Examination.
Kenya National Examination Council Secretary, Paul Wasanga said although there are guidelines on the required age for one to register for KCPE, the condition will not be strictly be followed this year.
“We are yet to embark on a an awareness campaign telling stakeholders and mainly parents the need to ensure that children join Class One at the right age,” Wasanga told The Star.
He said the standard age for one to sit for KCPE exams is 13 or 14 years based on the assumption that children start Class one at six years of age. However, the 20,000 children who will be sitting this year's exam will be tween 11 and 12 years old.
KCPE examinations start on November 12-14 with 844,475 candidates in 23,819 examination centres.
Wasanga responded to complaints by some head teachers and county directors of education who have threatened the under age candidates and assured parents that their children will sit the exams.
He said: “The awareness campaign will start soon with with an objective to come up with a law on the required age for one to sit KCPE expected to be ready in the year 2015.”
Wasanga said we need to have a uniformity of age for candidates sitting KCPE, because having younger candidates brings problems later to these children.
The problems include failure to secure university loans, inability to get National IDs and employment due to the fact that but the time they finish school, they are still below the age of maturity which is 18 years.
The required age for a child to join Class One is six, while pre-primary admission starts is between zero and 4/5 years.
KNEC has also announced that all candidates registration for 2014 exams will start in November this year.
“Registration at this point means keying in the candidates’ bio data. Registration fees will continue to be paid between January and March of the year of examination as has been the case before,” Wasanga clarified and added that this is part of a plan to deal with under age candidates.
While it remains a proposal, Part IV of the Basic Education Act on Free and Compulsory Basic Education has Section 32 (2) which states: “A school or person responsible for admission shall not discriminate against any child seeking admission on any ground, including race sex, ethnic or social origin colour, age, disability religion, language or culture.”
Some of the children who are underage have either jumped classes because they are bright and would otherwise be bored.
Wasanga says rushing such children through would require the country to have special talent academies for the gifted, “which only exists in Israel or the USA.”
Such academies target the youth from the entire country who have shown exceptional talent potential.
In Israel, these gifted children are nurtured to become extraordinary performers and/or producers of ideas in their chosen field of specialization.
For over age candidates who register for KCPE, Wasanga said: “This is not a challenge.”
Kenya National Association of Parents Secretary General Musau Ndunda said he had also received complaints from parents who fear that their under age children will not be allowed to sit for KCPE.
“Parents say the message has been communicated by County Directors from the Ministry of Education,” Ndunda said and added that Wasanga said it is still a proposal.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-138653/20000-pupils-aged-under-13-sit-kcpe#sthash.pOPIaiCv.dpuf