On the 22nd of October at 8:00 AM sharp, fourth-year Kenyan students sharpen their pencils and squirm in their seats as they began the test that they’ve been working towards for four years. Students are supposed to sit at a distance from each other unlike in the normal class sitting arrangements. This measure helps maintain the security of the test.
The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, KCSE, is an exam taken at the completion of secondary school. The exam covers seven subjects for each student including: English, Swahili, mathematics, and at least two sciences; biology, chemistry, and/or physics; one subject in the humanities; history, Christian religious education, or Islamic religion, and finally, one practical or vocational subject.
This year there are PA-MOJA sponsored students graduating from seven different high schools. They all began the KCSE with other candidates in the country. These sponsored students are all determined to excel and enroll in universities and colleges to pursue their different careers. As the exams go on, Endana Secondary School students showed seriousness and concentration. Beatrice Ekomwa, one of the seven students sponsored by PA-MOJA will graduate from Endana Secondary after her KCSE. She sat in great concentration during the exam session, and she was really confident that she would earn good marks. She said that she was not nervous at all because she believes that she has prepared well over the past four years.
All over Kenya, students have prepared fully to take their KCSE exam. At most of the PA-MOJA, the test will be administered over the course of three weeks, and some testing days will be longer than others. In the majority of the schools around the country, the exam will take at most a month to complete. This exam normally marks the end of high school, or in other words, the end of the secondary education, and hence is a determining factor for entry to university or college. Therefore students take it very seriously as they compete across the whole country.
Before the test begins, schools around the country host a day celebration where the community comes together to show their support. Because of Kenya’s religious nature, the celebration is called “Prayer Day.” This normally happens at the last weekend to the main exam, KCSE. Therefore, most schools had their prayer days last weekend where parents, friends, and the surrounding communities were invited to attend prayers for their children.
During prayer days, staff, teachers, administrators, community members, and families of students gather under school trees, and for the schools which are lucky, in a school hall. They all share words of encouragement to the grade 12 students.
PA-MOJA wishes all the their sponsored students and all their sister schools much success in their final push toward the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
Story and photos by Emily Lerosion.
Great that our bursary students are feeling confident!
I wish all grade 12’s the best of luck!
What criteria do you use to sponsor a student ?
Kindly get our news on the website and you will be able to understand how we work. We are so fare and transparent. We just consult the community members on the students issues and backgrounds through our community representatives.
Emily this is really powerful!! I celebrate PA-MOJA!!