Five schools in Tigania East in Meru County face delays in writing the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination following a heavy downpour that has caused floods in the area.
Area sub-county education officer Simon Londiangule said despite collecting the exams on time, the students have to wait a little longer after the roads leading to their institutions became flooded making transportation of the exam papers difficult.
“The schools affected are Lailuba, Kiremu, Ntulili and Laibucha. All these schools' students will have to wait until the raging water is reduced. For now, the roads are impassable but eventually, they will have to sit for the exams today,” said Londiangule.
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He further added they have notified the examination body's senior officials about the predicament and challenges they are facing.
“Our seniors are aware of the delay so we are waiting for further directives and assistance,” said the officer.
A spot check showed the police, headteachers and invigilators of the affected schools seeking refuge in a nearby home as heavy downpours continued to hit the area.
Kiremu Day Secondary School principal Micheni Luthiri said the area, for the past three days, has been experiencing heavy rainfall forcing many roads to cut off.
Joseph Kailikia, a resident, said that most of the rivers are flooded which has made many areas inaccessible.
“We are calling on the government to look for alternative means to deliver exam papers like using a helicopter to fly especially to the affected schools to help learners write their exams on time because some of these delays cause panic to students,” said Kailikia.
Locals at the same added many schools in the affected semi-arid area have made arrangements to have candidates sleep in school to ensure they don’t miss any examinations due to the effects of the ongoing heavy rainfall.
