Mandera records highest number of adults sitting KCSE as they seek county jobs

Centre managers

Examination officials and centre managers in prayers before opening of the container in Mandera East on December 2, 2022. A total of 5102 candidates are sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education tests in Mandera.

Photo credit: Manase Otsialo I Nation Media Group

Some 465 adults in Mandera are sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams that started on Friday.

This is the highest number of locals who registered as private candidates for the Form Four tests.

Most of the adult candidates are seeking jobs in the county government, said Mandera County Adult Continuity Education officer Ibrahim Hassan Malow.

“Most of these private candidates are either casuals in the county government and are looking for the KCSE certificate for promotion while others need the same certificate for employment,” he said.

Mandera is among counties with the highest illiteracy levels in Kenya.

Illiteracy levels in Mandera stand at 70 percent, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

“Some of these adults missed the opportunity to study in their childhood due to poverty and their nomadic way of life that meant they moved from one place to another herding their livestock,” Mr Malow said.

Most of the female adult candidates said they were married off early, denying them a chance to study.

“I am back sitting for the KCSE because I got married immediately after I finished Standard Eight. I am a mother of seven but I need this certificate to seek employment in the government,” Ms Halima Farah said.

She urged county officials and the national government to ensure children in Mandera get an equal opportunity to go to school.

“Male children are given more priority and opportunities in our society than females and that is denying us a lot in terms of being self-reliant and at least being respected in the society,” she lamented.

In the 2021 KCSE, Ms Sabriya Ismail Ahmed, 39, and a mother of six made headlines after she scored a B-minus.

Ms Ahmed dropped out of school in 1999 and married, but she later sat the examination with two of her children.

School dropouts

Her daughter scored a B-plus and her son a C-plain.

“High poverty levels in Mandera contribute to high numbers of school dropouts and this is why we have many of them coming back as adults to sit for the examinations as private candidates,” Mr Malow said.

For unknown reasons, Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif, 53, sat for the KCSE exam at Sheikh Ali Secondary in Mandera North in 2003.

He was then aged 34 and an established businessman in Mandera town.

“Some of us see business as more important than education and that is why you will find respected business people sitting these examinations,” said Mr Abdullahi Issack, the county adult continuing education officer.

He decried a shortage of instructors at adult education centres in the county.

“We only have 12 instructors against 101 centres. We have another 95 instructors on casual and only paid Sh2,000 a month,” Mr Malow said.

At least 71 other adults sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in Mandera.

“Our people have realised education is important because they need it in recording keeping in their businesses, to apply it when tending their livestock and farms and mothers need it in family upbringing,” Mr Malow said.

Meanwhile, schools in Mandera have recorded an unusually low number of candidates sitting for this year’s KCSE exam.

Mandera Boys Secondary and Moi Girls, both national schools in the county, have 247 and 151 candidates respectively.

“Most students joined other schools in the county and that is [why] I have a lower number of candidates this time round,” said Mandera Boys Principal Noor Sheikh.

A reliable source in the Ministry of Education in Mandera told the Nation that the two schools had registered poorly performing students at other schools.

“The numbers are low in these big schools because some students perceived as low performers were registered in other examination centres,” said our source, who asked not to be named.

A total of 5,102 candidates – 1,706 females and 3,396 males – are sitting for this year’s KCSE in Mandera.

Mandera South MP Abdul Ebrahim Haro has pledged to give Sh100,000 to any girl who scores an A-plain or A-minus grade.

A girl with B-plus will get Sh80,000 and any girl who scores a B-plain or B-minus will get Sh40,000 from the first-time legislator.