This archive report was first published on 10 May 2021.
On May 10, 2021, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) announced a new initiative to tackle cheating in national examinations by implementing biometric registration for all teachers.
TSC boss Nancy Macharia emphasized the importance of this move, stating that it would help identify examination crooks and exonerate innocent teachers framed in exam fraud.
According to Macharia, the biometric enrolment and validation of all teachers in public schools will include enlisting their fingerprints to allow for forensic and intelligence-led investigations in cases where exams papers are tampered with and where gadgets are used to commit exam malpractices.
She highlighted several instances of teachers implicated in examination fraud, including a senior teacher who had their cell phone recovered with exam screenshots being taken to a candidate in a hospital, and a school principal who posted an examination paper on their WhatsApp status.
Another teacher was found guilty of masquerading as an exam official to access examination materials and leak them, and will be deregistered and barred from practicing.
Macharia also announced that the commission will reward teachers found to have performed exemplary, with Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha previously stating that eleven examination officials had been arrested and were facing charges over attempts to expose some of exam papers.
