The government is set to release the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificates this coming week, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has announced.

University application deadline on the other hand draws near, with education officials keen to ensure students transition smoothly into the next phase of their academic and professional lives.

CS Ogamba called on school principals to urgently reach out to former students, encouraging them to collect their certificates without delay.

"Certificates of 2024 KCSE will be out this coming week, so I would like to urge teachers to call students to go for their certificates so that they may be able to have jobs and other things," Ogamba said.

At the same time, the government is stepping up efforts to address the issue of principals withholding students' national examination certificates over school fee balances.

CS Ogamba warned that action would be taken starting next week against principals who fail to comply with earlier directives requiring the release of all certificates.

"The other day, I issued a directive that teachers holding certificates should release them to all the students, and I gave a deadline, and the deadline has already passed, so from next week, we will be taking action against teachers who are still withholding the certificates," he said.

Earlier, on Monday, March 17, Ogamba had revealed that the Ministry of Education was considering a plan to allow students to collect their certificates from subcounty education offices instead of their former schools. This move, according to the CS, aims to make the collection process more accessible and avoid unnecessary delays caused by administrative challenges at the school level.

The CS also reminded guardians and parents to support students in applying for university placements before the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) portal closes on April 30, 2025. According to Ogomba, 72 per cent of eligible students have already enrolled.

"We are continuing to enrol students who got a C+ and above in the universities, and we set the deadline as April 30. I would like to encourage students who have not applied to apply within this period," he stated.

The 2024 KCSE examinations saw 962,512 students sit for the tests, with 246,391 candidates scoring C+ and above, qualifying them for university admission. Education authorities have emphasised the importance of meeting the application deadline to avoid missing out on university placement opportunities.