Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha however said the ministry could merge the 2020 exams with those scheduled for 2021 if the government is unable to reopen schools for the administration of the exams by April.
Magoha appeared before the Senate ad hoc committee on the Covid 19 situation in the country on Thursday.
The CS said April is the most likely month candidates can take the exams if schools reopen in September as directed by the President.
Magoha added, “The process is ongoing and I think within two weeks, we shall be able to know whether we open in September, we can still do the exams perhaps sometime in April next year.”
The CS said his ministry was focusing on finding the right way out before schools can resume and among other options the government was considering included how to sanitise and mask the learners.
He said one of the crucial things that was making it difficult to reopen schools was the fact that some learners are as young as six years and it would be difficult to have them wear face masks.
A survey by Infotrak Research and Consulting Company indicated parents did not want their children to go back to school in September.
He has insisted that learning will only resume if it is safe for the children, noting that “we don’t want to put lives of our children at risk”.
The biggest concern for Kenyans with regard to reopening of schools was a likely spike in COVID-19 infections among children.
