Sadness has engulfed Ebubere Secondary School in Mumias, Kakamega County, after one male student mysteriously passed away moments before the beginning of Tuesday’s papers in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
The 19-year-old student identified as Calistus Wamboye collapsed and died while inside the examination room awaiting to sit his mathematics paper that was to start at 8:00 am on Tuesday, November 5.
According to the kin of the victim, the student left home in high spirits together with a sibling who was also sitting the national examination and showed no signs of sickness.
The family, as a result, called on the government to conduct investigations to establish the cause of the candidate’s sudden demise after the untimely death of their son whom they had great hopes for.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba supervises the distribution of Day 1 KCSE exam papers at the Kibra DCC container. PHOTO/ MOE Kenya.
Following the death, the body was taken to St. Mary’s Mission Hospital Mortuary in Mumias awaiting a post-mortem examination.
The tragic incident came barely a day after a male candidate registered in a school in Tigania West passed away just hours before sitting his papers on Monday, November 4.
The KCSE examinations, which kicked off on Monday, also saw two female students who had been expectant delivering at a Meru Hospital.
“At around 12.00 AM this morning, we lost one male candidate who hails from Tigania West. At around the same time, we had two girls who were expectant and delivered at the Meru Hospital. I know this news will keep changing because maybe the number has increased but we will continue letting you know as we receive the information,” Meru’s regional administrator confirmed.
The number of students giving birth is expected to rise as the exams continue. According to statistics shared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the teenage pregnancy and motherhood rate in Kenya stood at 18 per cent as of 2022. This implies that about 1 in every 5 teenage girls between the ages of 15-19 years, have either had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child.
Separately, a 19-year-old KCSE student who went missing on October 25 was found dumped in Mathioya River. The family appealed to the government to investigate the issue.
While supervising the issuance of exams, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba directed supervisors to avoid malpractice, indicating that the government would be on the watch out.
Once caught, the perpetrators will be prosecuted in newly constitutioned courts that have been put in place to ensure that exam malpractice cases are promptly addressed.
He noted that the examination papers in this year’s exam had been fitted with technology to detect whether they had been tampered with and immediately relayed the information to the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) headquarters in Nairobi.
