Wajir(Mogadishu24)-The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations officially began on Monday morning, with over 900,000 students sitting for the exams at different centres across the country.

These exams have started at a time when heavy rains have been experienced in many parts of Kenya, leading the National Examination Council to transport examination papers by helicopters.

Ms. Nancy Macharia, the Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), stated that the exams will proceed as planned, with maximum security in areas prone to terrorism.

She mentioned that 101,376 examiners were deployed to all examination centres as supervisors and invigilators to prevent examination irregularities and illegalities.

In the past week, there was heavy rainfall across Kenya, especially in the North-eastern region, causing severe flooding in Mandera, Garissa, and Wajir counties.

In these counties, 35,051 students are expected to sit for the examination although some centres become inaccessible due to the torrential rains.

Mr. John Otieno, the North-eastern Commissioner, has deployed six airplanes to transport examination papers to centers in Wajir, Mandera, and Garissa, which were affected by the severe floods.

He stated that there have been improvements in security in the areas of Liboi, Halugho, Dadaab, and Fafi.

“We have had heavy rains in Wajir, Garissa, and Mandera. I want to thank the National Examination Council and the government for providing helicopters. We have six helicopters in this region on standby, delivering exams to areas that are inaccessible due to the rains and insecurity,” said Mr. John Otieno, Northeastern Regional Commissioner.

He added, “With the helicopters, we are assured that the examination materials will reach the examination centres without any issues.”

The North-eastern region has long faced security threats from Al-Shabaab terrorists, who have been targeting security forces and schools.

Last week, two General Service Unit Police officers were killed, and four others were injured when the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by a controlled bomb at Ege-Dam along the Daadab-Garissa road.

The officers were heading to supervise the national examinations for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).

Kenya is one of the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) troop-contributing countries and has been actively engaged in the fight against the Al-Shabaab terrorist organization, which is a threat not only to Somalia but also to Kenya.