By S, KNA
Mukurwe-ini Member of Parliament John Kaguchia has petitioned the Ministry of Education, seeking an explanation for why the 2025 Kenya Sign Language (KSL) examinations were never graded.
In a petition dated January 14 and addressed to National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula, Kaguchia raised concerns over the failure to grade the paper for more than 12,000 students who sat for the exams last year, while their counterparts in 2024 were duly assessed.
“I have formally requested a statement from the Ministry of Education through Parliament regarding the failure to grade Kenya Sign Language (KSL) for normal hearing students in the 2025 KCSE examinations. The affected students sat for the examination and were duly registered with KNEC, yet their results were not graded. As a result, students’ overall grades were unfairly lowered, and school mean scores were negatively affected,” Kaguchia said.
The MP also wants the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to explain why it failed to grade the paper despite categorizing it as examinable.
Among the issues raised, Kaguchia questioned why the Ministry did not release an official circular to learning institutions in advance to clarify the fate of candidates enrolled for KSL. He faulted KNEC for registering students, marking their scripts, but failing to analyze their results in the end.
He emphasized that KSL, as a subject approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), deserves fair assessment for all learners who choose it.
“Honorable Speaker, no circular, policy, directive, or official communication was issued by either the Ministry of Education or KNEC to indicate that Kenya Sign Language would no longer be treated as an examinable subject under Group 5, or that it would be restricted exclusively to learners with learning impairments. This action is procedurally unfair, inconsistent, and discriminatory. It has resulted in a clear opportunity cost to the affected students, many of whom performed exceptionally well,” Kaguchia stated.
The lawmaker vowed to continue pushing for accountability and corrective action to ensure that affected students receive justice and that such an oversight does not recur in future national examinations.
He argued that the failure to grade the exams is tantamount to discrimination against students and their families, many of whom had placed high hopes on seeing their children’s performance.
KSL is classified as a technical subject under Category 5 of the now-defunct 8-4-4 curriculum. This category comprises one of the five groups of elective subjects available at the secondary school level.