A team-building excursion tour for a primary school in Uasin Gishu turned tragic after five of the pupils drowned on Saturday evening.

Five Kenya Certificate of Primary Education candidates from Arap Moi Primary School in Uasin Gishu County lost their lives when they drowned in an overflow dam during a school trip.

The victims were part of 183 candidates and grade six pupils from the school who had been taken for a trip at an Amazement Park in Ainabkoi Sub County, some 40 kilometres away from Eldoret town when the incident occurred.

The drowned pupils were identified as Abel Kipkemboi, Caleb Kipkurui, Godwin Kiprono, Anthony Kiptoo, and Evans Kiplimo. The bodies were moved to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, MTRH.

One grade six pupils, Gideon Kigen, survived the tragedy after being rescued and rushed to MTRH for treatment.

A sister to one of the deceased candidates, 16-year-old Abel Kipkemboi, Alice Chepchumba, said her brother, a top-performing pupil, had promised them that he would perform well in the forthcoming KCPE examinations and hoped to join Starehe Boys.

“My brother had told us that he will not let us down and that he will work hard in the national examination and join Stare Boys, which she said was his first choice,” said Chepchumba.

According to Chepchumba, the school usually takes class eight candidates to the ill-fated dam before sitting the national examinations annually, noting this was the first time such a tragedy has ever occurred.

The candidates who were set to sit for their exams on Monday are said to have taken turns on a boat ride in the man-made dam before the tragedy occurred, plunging the entire Olare village into mourning.

Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Benjamin Mwanthi confirmed the incident and said investigations have been launched to determine how the tragedy occurred.

The boss said the site where the pupils lost their lives while boat riding has been secured and that no expedition activities in the dam that is now a no-go zone until investigations are completed.

Area MCA Gilbert Chepkonga blamed the tragedy on negligence on the part of the teachers who had accompanied the candidates on the fateful day.

He said that it was wrong for the teachers to leave the pupils on their own to take the boat ride, yet the site had been declared out of bounds for lack of an instructor.

“There was nobody to ensure the safety of pupils at the dam since there was no instructor, and to make matters worse, the tutors were having lunch just a few metres away from the scene of the incident,” alleged Chepkonga.

Uasin Gishu County Director of Education (CDE) John Thiringi described the incident as an unfortunate event.

“It is unfortunate that the tragedy has interfered with the expectations of the candidates who were set to sit for their national exam on Monday,” said Thiringi after visiting the school where the victims were learners.

The school’s headteacher, Liza Kirui, was rushed to MTRH after fainting on learning about the tragic incident and is receiving treatment.

According to the CDE, a senior teacher will be appointed temporarily to act in her position as she continues to recuperate at the hospital following the shocking news.

THE KENYA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

2023 KCSE EXAMINATION TIMETABLE, INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES

KNEC/TD/SE/KCSE/TT/23/008

• INSTRUCTIONSAND SCHEDULE OF PAPERS FOR THE 2023 KCSE EXAMINATION

• All first session examination papers will start at 800 a.m. and second session examination papers will start at 2.00 pm as indicated on the timetable.
• The time allowed for each paper is indicated against the name of the paper and NO EXTRA TIME IS TO BE ALLOWED. In case of any discrepancy, the time stated on the question paper should be taken as the correct Time for reading through questions is part of the time shown on the question paper except where special paper instructions indicate otherwise.
• Supervisors and Invigilators should ensure that candidates have written their names, index numbers and have signed on their answer scripts before they collect the answer scripts from each candidate while the candidates should ensure that they only take the subjects they are registered for.
• Schools should upload marks for subjects with a Project component by 21^st April 2023 for Milestone 1 and 31^st July 2023 for Milestone 2 where applicable.

2.0              DAYS, DATES, SESSIONS AND DURATION OF 2023 KCSE EXAMINATION PAPERS

INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES TO TEACHERS AND CANDIDATES

     INSTRUCTIONS TO TEACHERS

Teachers are advised to ensure that the candidates read these instructions and guidelines carefully and adhere to them. The candidates should be made aware of the penalties for examination irregularities or misconduct.

     INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

• Avail yourself for searching outside the examination room and be seated at your desk/table 15 minutes before the time fixed for the examination in the various The first session will start at 8.00 a.m. followed by the second session as indicated on the timetable.
• A candidate who arrives late will be required to give a satisfactory reason to the Only in exceptional circumstances will a paper be given to any candidate who is more than half an hour late. Absolute punctuality is essential for all papers.
• Check the question paper you have been given to confirm that it is the paper you registered
• If an examination paper for which you are not registered is handed to you, or if the questions indicate that a map or other material should also have been provided, inform the Supervisor at
• Attend carefully to any general instructions that may be given on the first page of a paper, g. instructions limiting the number of questions that should be answered.
• Check to ensure that each page of your question paper is
• Write your name, index number, sign and write the date of the examination on the answer
• Write on both sides of the paper, but do not use the Begin the answer to each separate part of a question on a fresh line.
• Write the number of the question clearly in the left-hand margin at the beginning of each Do not copy the question. Be careful to use the same system of numbering as appears in the question paper. Leave a blank line after the answer to each question.
• Write your responses in black or blue You may use fountain pen or ball point pen. Pencils should only be used for diagrams. Bring mathematical and drawing instruments for subjects for which they will be needed.
• Read each question A lot of time may be wasted in writing down information that is not asked for and no marks will be given for it.
• Do not spend too much time on one or two Leave yourself adequate time to answer other questions.
• As soon as notice is given to stop, make sure your name, index number, signature and the date of the examination are written on the answer booklet and then hand it over to the supervisor/

     GUIDELINES TO CANDIDATES

• You are not allowed to leave the examination room before the end of the period allocated to the paper except with special permission from the Supervisor. No candidate so permitted to leave may take a question paper or answer booklet out of the examination
• Do not leave a sheet of paper you have written on or your answers in such a position that another candidate can read You should not give or obtain unfair assistance, or attempt to do so, whether by copying or in any other way, and your work should not show proof of such unfair assistance.
• No communication whatsoever in whatever manner between candidates or with outsiders is allowed during the
• You are not allowed to have in your possession or in your proximity while in the examination room, any book, notes, papers or any other materials whatsoever except the correct question papers and any materials expressly authorized by the Kenya National Examinations
• You may only use mathematical tables printed by the Kenya National Examinations Council, and these should not contain any additional notes except the printed If you are using a calculator as permitted by the Regulations, it should be the specified nonprogrammable calculator. If in doubt, check with the Supervisor. Calculators may be used in the following subjects Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Woodwork, Metalwork, Building Construction, Power Mechanics, Electricity, Drawing & Design, Aviation Technology, Computer Studies and Business Studies.
• You must return immediately to the Supervisor any question paper that has smudges, errors or is badly
• You must not take any used or unused paper out of the examination Any rough work must be done on the official answer booklet and, if not to be submitted with the answers, must be left on the desk to be collected by the Supervisor and destroyed.
• Any misconduct or causing of disturbance in or near the examination room will be treated as an examination
• For practical papers to be taken in shifts, all candidates taking the examination must avail themselves for Any candidate who does not present him/herself for confinement will have committed an examination irregularity.
• Cell phones or any other electronic communication device are prohibited in examination Any candidate found in possession of a cell phone or any other electronic communication device will have his or her results cancelled.

     PENALTY FOR EXAMINATION IRREGULARITIES

• The KNEC Act 29 of 2012 Offences and Penalties stated in Sections 27 to 40 for cases of examination irregularities will apply. Some of the highlights in these Sections state that:
  • A candidate who commits an examination irregularity in any paper will have the results for the whole subject Such a candidate will not be entitled to a result and will be awarded result “Y” overall.

• If there is evidence of wide-spread irregularities in any examination centre, the examination results for the whole centre will be cancelled

     Any person who:

1. gains access to examination material and knowingly reveals the contents, whether orally or in writing, to an unauthorized party, whether a candidate or not, will be in violation of Section 27 of the Act and the penalty will be imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or a fine not exceeding two million shillings or both;
2. willfully and maliciously damages examination material will be in violation of Section 30 of the Act and the penalty will be imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding five million shillings or both;
3. is not registered to take a KNEC examination but, with intent to impersonate, presents or attempts to present himself to take the part of an enrolled candidate will be in violation of Section 31 of the Act, and shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding two million shillings or both and shall be prohibited from taking an examination conducted by or on behalf of the Council for a period of three years.
   • Candidates should not commit any examination irregularity to avoid having their results

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER