This archive report was first published on 27 October 2019.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has warned that teachers and examination officials have devised new ways of cheating in national tests, prompting the need for increased surveillance.
Magoha made the warning ahead of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, which began on Tuesday, and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, which started on November 4.
He said some of the tricks likely to be employed in the exams were responsible for the cancellation of results in 16 counties last year.
“The malpractices include early exposure of the second paper in some of the days and claims of inadvertent opening of afternoon tests in the morning,” Magoha said, adding that culprits will “have the full force of the law applied against them”.
Magoha also revealed that some supervisors and invigilators are colluding to have some of the papers transported from the containers in private vehicles rather than designated government cars to allow tampering with the tests.
He said some schools have hatched plans to have some of the teachers hover around examination centres in the guise of being cooks, watchmen or other subordinate staff, and then quickly sneak the answers into the test halls.
Magoha said the ministry has mapped out about 300 examination centres countrywide where cheating is likely to take place, and urged everyone, including candidates and examination officials, to strictly comply with the regulations to avoid falling into the security traps.
He also warned that the ministry is aware of plans by centre managers to retain teachers employed by boards of management to aid in cheating, and that those with such plans have been identified and are being monitored.
Magoha, who was appointed head of the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) in 2016, said he is upbeat that the tests will be foolproof, and that the government has been campaigning to ensure all Standard Eight candidates are enrolled in Form One to achieve a 100 per cent transition rate.
So far, an average of 95 per cent of primary leavers have been admitted in various secondary schools across the country.
