The Ministry of Education cancelled the results of four candidates in this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations after investigators found them guilty of impersonation.
Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed announced the action while releasing the results at Star of the Sea Primary School in Mombasa, saying the government’s anti-cheating drive had helped protect the integrity of the national tests.
She said none of the nine papers had been leaked. According to the ministry, 26 teachers were found to have assisted in exam irregularities, and the Teachers Service Commission said they would face disciplinary action.
“However, during the monitoring exercise, our vigilant teams discovered four candidates guilty of impersonation. These four will have their results cancelled,” she said.
Amina said the tougher monitoring measures introduced during the second term had stopped most of the “would be cheating cases”. She added that the results were “a pure and true reflection of hard work”.
Last year, no candidate’s results were cancelled.
The CS defended the multi-agency team deployed to monitor the exams nationwide, saying the government would keep investing in efforts to stop cheating. She also dismissed criticism of the operation.
Senior government officials, including Cabinet secretaries, chief administrative secretaries and principal secretaries, visited centres across the country to oversee the process. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, also toured exam centres and assured learners of the credibility of the tests.
Amina said the monitoring exercise had improved access to all 47 counties, including remote areas in arid and semi-arid regions. She said a stronger culture of valuing education was beginning to take hold among candidates.
She argued that the cost of administering national examinations was far lower than the damage caused when children are caught cheating or later face suspicion over their certificates.
Kenya National Examinations Council chairman George Magoha said there had been a few cases of fake papers being bought and urged parents and learners to trust the examination process.
“This exam has been credible and it has been set and managed by Kenyans,” said Prof Magoha.
He also said marking had been completed in record time, two days earlier than the previous year.
“We have reached a stage now where we have agreed that cheating is in the past. A very small percentage of teachers, education officials and even Knec people are still in the habit of trying to expose exams prematurely. We will not allow it,” Magoha warned.
