The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) has been sued over the July 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
The upcoming mid-year series of the KCSE examination, the first of its kind in Kenya’s education system, was introduced by the Ministry of Education to offer past candidates who did not do well in the national examinations an opportunity to enhance their grades.
The examination, which will be administered in July every year, will also target candidates who may have missed sitting KCSE examination due to sickness or other unexpected hardships.
But according to Dr Magare Gikenyi Benjamin, the laid out plan affects the rights and fundamental freedoms of learners and/or parents/guardians.
No public participation
In his petition, Dr Magare argues that the examinations were introduced without public participation, and that stakeholders were never consulted on the matter.
“THAT the MANDATORY NATURE (as opposed to choosing either to sit on July or Novembers examination series) goes against the right of every individual to chose examination which is convenient to him/her so as to enjoy the rights and fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights…,” the petition reads in part.
According to Dr Magare, KCSE examinations has always been sat/done in November of every year, and thus every candidate had a “legitimate” expectation that should he/she fail, she would resit the same in November of the next year.
‘Abrupt shifting of goal-posts’
“…abruptly changing the said date and without involving the affected learners and stakeholders and public is against legitimate expectation of the affected learners, and their parents and stakeholders.”
KNEC had set end of Friday, February 21, 2025 as the deadline for the registration period for the 2025 KCSE examination —July series. Dr Magare insists that this decision was abrupt even to the learners.
“Yearly examinations has always been registered latest by 31st March of every year and thus every learner had a Legitimate Expectation to register by then and that considering that the Repeaters and adult learners DO NOT benefit from government’s free examination and tuition fees and further considering Kenya’s poor economic status, the abrupt change to February 21st 2025 affected their ability to register for the impugned examinations.”
