Moments after the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results were announced by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba, parents and students faced frustration as the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) portal went down due to overwhelming traffic.
This is a scenario that now plays out every year without fail, leaving many to wonder what is wrong with KNEC. Modern cloud hosting solutions allow on-demand scaling, which only leads to the conclusion that the IT people over there don’t know what they are doing, or have not been provided with resources to do what they need to do.
With 965,512 candidates having taken the exams across 10,755 centers, the demand was exceptionally high.
The KNEC website displayed the error message “This page isn’t working” as users rushed to access their results. KNEC later acknowledged the issue in a tweet, explaining: “The minor delays in receiving feedback is due to the high number of requests being sent to the portal, of up to 300,000 hits per second.”
KNEC reassured users that the portal was back online, and candidates were successfully receiving their results. Candidates can access their results through the KNEC results portal (https://results.knec.ac.ke) by entering their index number and their registered names.
For additional support, candidates experiencing difficulties were advised to contact KNEC’s toll-free numbers 0800724900 or 0800721410.
The delays sparked a wave of complaints on social media, with parents, students, and school administrators expressing their frustrations. Virginia Wahome, Chief Principal of Kenya High School, shared her concerns about the slow system, noting:
“The system is slow, and it’s taking more than 10 minutes to upload results for a single candidate. Only half of our 382 candidates’ results have been successfully uploaded so far.”
Wahome also highlighted the shift in the timing of the results release, stating:
“In previous years, KCSE results were released before the Christmas holidays. However, this time, they were released after schools resumed for the first term.”
To address the delay, Kenya High School organized teachers into teams to process the uploads more efficiently.
The 2024 KCSE results mark the second year that the government exclusively used the online portal for result access, a departure from the SMS method traditionally used in previous years. The shift was implemented in response to public concerns about fraudulent SMS results.
How to Access the 2024 KCSE Results
To ensure smooth access to the results, follow these steps:
1. Accessing Results Online via KNEC Portal:
- Visit the official KNEC results portal at https://results.knec.ac.ke.
- Enter your 11-digit index number and one of your registered names.
- Click Submit to view your results.
2. Troubleshooting:
- If you encounter delays or issues, contact KNEC’s toll-free numbers: 0800724900 or 0800721410.
- Try accessing the portal during off-peak hours to avoid high traffic.
Key Highlights:
- 965,512 candidates sat the exams in 10,755 centers.
- Portal traffic reached 300,000 hits per second, temporarily crashing the system.
- Schools like Kenya High reported significant delays in uploading results.
- KNEC has reassured candidates that the system is now operational, with measures in place to handle the demand.
As candidates and parents adjust to the newer online system, the government continues to refine the process to ensure smoother experiences in the future.
