The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) examinations kicked off smoothly in Kilifi County without any major hitches reported.

This year’s KCPE examination marks the end of the 8-4-4 education system in primary schools that has been replaced with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which was inducted in 2017.

Kilifi North Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Samuel Mutisya said security was beefed up to ensure that the 20,800 candidates had a conducive environment to sit for their papers in the 69 examination centres in the area.

He told a media briefing that the distribution of the exams was successful without any irregularities being reported.

“We have begun this national exercise of exams: grade 6 KPSEA and class 8 KCPE. We have started well; all centre managers are here, and we have enough security. I am also hoping that the examination exercise will run smoothly till the end”, Mutisya said.

He further explained that the county had made adequate preparation for the exams while urging examination centre managers to follow the guidelines provided by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to execute the exercise effectively.

“I am hoping that we will not have any cases of cheating in exams because all strategies have been put in place by KNEC and the government. Security officers have been briefed, and all the centre managers have received instructions to ensure the work is done effectively”, he explained.

The examinations will run for three days, ending on Wednesday, November 1.