Fairlawns Primary School head teacher Peter King’ori has defended the KCPE examination process, saying the 2018 results reflected the effort of individual candidates after tighter controls reduced cheating.
In comments made on 19 November 2018, King’ori said he supported the system from rehearsal day through the final sitting, arguing that the government “did its best to curb cheating”. He pointed to the role of supervisors, invigilators and security officers in keeping the exercise orderly in Kikuyu constituency, Kiambu.
According to him, the school environment was calm and candidates were not intimidated by police officers assigned to secure the exams. He said the presence of security had become less frightening for pupils than in the past, adding that officers now interacted more freely with candidates.
“Nowadays, the issue of cheating has been curbed and whatever the candidate receives belongs to him or her. Security officers are also friendly. They interact freely with candidates unlike in the past when pupils got scared and ran away,” he said.
King’ori said the fight against exam malpractice begins with the containers used to store papers, the officials handling the process and the schools themselves. He also said marking English composition and Kiswahili insha takes time, but expressed confidence that the right teachers had been selected for the task.
He welcomed the faster release of results in 2018 compared with 2017, when KCPE results were released on 21 November. “The time is improving each year. The systems are running well and I congratulate the entire team behind this examination process,” he said.
Even so, the head teacher said the number of examination containers at subcounty headquarters should be increased so centre managers do not have to travel long distances before dawn to collect papers. He said some managers were waking up as early as 4am to reach the designated collection points.
King’ori said the containers should be placed closer to examination centres to reduce the strain on managers and make the process more efficient.
