This archive report was first published on 29 October 2019.
On the first day of the KCPE exams, several parents were left shocked and outraged after discovering that their children had been registered as private candidates, allegedly to boost school mean scores.
According to reports, in Kakamega, parents from Mumias Muslim Primary School claimed that their children, some of whom had attended the school from nursery, were forced to sit for their final exams as private candidates.
"The school with about 200 pupils registered 130 as bona fide candidates and subjected the remaining 70, who were considered to be below average in their class performance to register as private candidates because they want to boost the school mean score in the national examinations," claimed Tawakal Burhan, a parent.
Similarly, in Kisumu, about 26 pupils were shocked when they arrived at St Anne Kajulu Primary School to find the administration organising to send them to a distant school, Miwani Primary School, where they were registered without their knowledge.
Speaking during the distribution of exams at Manyatta Primary School, Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang confirmed the incident and said police officers had been dispatched to the scene to restore calmness.
"We are aware of the incident, but we have adequate confidence that the examinations will go on smoothly. Our officers at county level have already handled it," he said.
He warned schools against registering pupils in different centres.
Meanwhile, in Migori, a class eight pupil was distraught after discovering that his name was missing as a candidate for the ongoing exams.
The 13-year-old was a candidate at Break Through Academy in Migori town and was allegedly registered at St Joseph Ombo Primary School where he was set to sit his examinations.
Boaz Oyoo, the director of Break Through Academy said the institution was not registered as a centre and was recently closed down during the crackdown of institutions which were unsafe.
"We took all the names of our candidates to public schools after our institution was shut down. I feel we did our best as an institution and we don’t have any candidate," Oyoo said.
Principal Secretary State Department for University Education Professor Colleta Suda said the ministry of education would firmly deal with exam malpractice across the country.
"The education officers and other stakeholders are on the lookout for any pilferage of the examinations materials and ready to curb cheating in the examinations that started today," she said.
Migori County police commander Joseph Nthenge said security measures have been put in place to ensure that all the examination centers have adequate security officers.
