The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) recently discontinued its previously popular SMS service for checking exam results, a service that allowed candidates to send their index numbers to a short code for a fee, after which results would be sent via SMS.
This decision followed a significant debacle during the release of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam results. Many candidates found discrepancies between the results they received via SMS and those available on the KNEC portal. Complaints also emerged about long delays in receiving the SMS results, further complicating the situation.
To add to the confusion, some candidates discovered that their KCPE results indicated they had taken subjects like Kenyan Sign Language, a course they had not enrolled in. Others noticed missing or incorrectly displayed grades, particularly in Science, Social Studies, and Religious Education, where the expected plus (+) or minus (-) signs were missing. KNEC CEO David Njengere explained that these errors were a result of configuration issues and were limited to the SMS system. He emphasized that the results on the KNEC portal were accurate.
This confusion led to widespread dissatisfaction, with teachers’ unions and the Council of Governors calling for an audit of the exam results. In response, KNEC decided to retire the SMS system entirely.
In January 2024, when the exam results were released, KNEC opted for the online portal as the sole channel for candidates to access their results. Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu officially announced this change. However, the transition was not without issues. Once again, delays in accessing the results marred the process.
Following the release of the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migosi Ogamba on January 9, 2024, parents, students, and other stakeholders were left anxious. Despite Ogamba’s announcement that results would be publicly accessible shortly after noon, many were unable to access the results through the KNEC portal, which went down. The portal failed to load for many candidates, leaving both schools and individual candidates waiting for their results.
Ogamba had directed that individual candidate results could be accessed at https://results.knec.ac.ke and advised those who experienced issues to contact the toll-free numbers 0800724900 or 0800721410. Despite these provisions, the portal’s failure to function left many waiting anxiously for their results.
