Kenia: Students sent home for saying ‘no’ to exams

Kenia / 03 de agosto de 2016 / Por: KALUME KAZUNGU – WINNIE ATIENO / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke/

The decision was arrived at to prevent unrest or destruction of school property.

Five secondary schools in Lamu County have sent some of their students home after they refused to sit for their mock examinations.

The county’s Director of Education, Mr Mwanyoha Ndegwa, said the management of Kizingitini, Siyu, Wiyoni, Witu and Kiongwe secondary schools have been forced to send their Form Three and Four students home.

The decision was arrived at to prevent unrest or destruction of school property. The students refused to sit the exams on the grounds that they were not well prepared to tackle the questions.

Some claimed that the exams had been set on topics that they were yet to cover while others claimed that their teachers had not notified them on when the exams were to begin.

Some of the students who spoke to the Nation and requested anonymity, also said they were not willing to sit the exams because they feared that the results would be used to determine their final score in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam.

However, Mr Ndegwa said the students were simply not prepared and were therefore scared of failing.

“We shall soon summon back the students and their parents and chart a way forward. I expect the Lamu education board to meet this week over the same,” Mr Ndegwa said in a telephone interview.

In a related development, Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa on Monday said all public boarding secondary schools at the Coast will be manned by security officers to avert arson attacks.

At the same time, owners of petrol stations in the region have been warned against selling petrol to underage buyers and other suspicious characters.

“Don’t sell petrol to students, probe and confirm what it will be used for. Mere interrogations and amount of petrol bought can reveal their intentions. Report underage buyers to relevant authorities,” said Mr Marwa.

Speaking at his office, Mr Marwa said so far eight students — three from Shimo la Tewa High School, two from Malindi High and two from Lamu — have been arrested as part of the investigations into a fire incident at Kwale High School last Friday.

“The students from Lamu and Malindi have been arraigned in court. Anyone involved will be arrested regardless of their age,” said Mr Marwa.

ELECTRIC FAULT
Meanwhile, police officers in Mombasa County are investigating the circumstances that led to the burning of a dormitory at St Augustine Preparatory School in Tudor, Mombasa on Sunday night.

Police blamed the fire on an electric fault. The same building had also caught fire in 2013.

At least eight pupils were taken to hospital and treated for shock and minor injuries after the 11pm incident.

The fire was quickly contained by the Mombasa County and Kenya Ports Authority fire brigades.

The headteacher, Ms Serah Kessi, said the fire started shortly after the girls were cleared to go to bed.

“The girls had not slept as they had just got to the dormitory shortly after their revision ahead of the exams,” Ms Kessi said.

She said that the school had already made arrangements to accommodate the students until Friday when they will finish their end-of-term examinations.

Additional reporting by Wachira Mwangi

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/counties/Students-sent-home-for-saying-no-to-exams/1107872-3326114-10w6ygr/index.html