Stringent controls needed to stem exam cheating in Kenya

NAIROBI: While releasing the 2014 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) results at Mitihani House in Nairobi yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof Jacob Kaimenyi noted that the 2014 examination results marked a great improvement from 2013.

Jacob Kaimenyi was also quick to note that the results of at least five national schools were cancelled because of cheating. This is despite a decline in reported cases in 2014. The Kenya National Examinations Council might want to investigate the causes of cheating: Do students cheat because it is too hard to pass? If that is the case, then teachers should take the blame for sleeping on the job. Do they cheat because it is easy to cheat? If that is true, Knec has slept on the job.

Or is cheating in exams a reflection of the national way of doing things? What with wanton corruption and embezzlement of public resources, it might be. That is up to Knec to find out, but what is not lost is that cheating in national exams reflects badly on our education system.

The release of national examination also prompts reflection on other issues. At least 450,000 students sat the 2014 exam out of which 3,073 scored a mean grade of A, up from 2,722 the previous year.

Public universities will only absorb 60,000 students while diploma colleges will absorb another 40,000.

As such, more than 350,000 students, in addition to those who did not make it past the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam will not advance their education.

This portends a grim future for the thousands of youth in an environment that lays too much stock on academic achievements as a means of advancement in all spheres of life. The need for the Government to establish more middle level colleges cannot be over-emphasised.

Village polytechnics and other technical colleges used to equip the youth with skills that enabled them attain a certain level of self-sufficiency without over-reliance on white collar jobs.

While there was an assurance the abolition of ranking students would not affect university placement, the Government needs to also give an assurance that those who require loans from the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) will be expeditiously facilitated to do so.

Last year, there was a lot of student unrest from the delayed disbursement of loans by Helb which claimed it was under funded. Also, poverty, insecurity and high fees contribute to the high dropout rate.

For this reason, the Government must follow up on the issuance of fees guidelines for secondary schools by gazetting the guidelines and availing school principals with circulars. In the absence of the two, the guidelines will not be binding on teachers.

Even though Prof Kaimenyi has warned head teachers still holding onto certificates because of non-payment of school fees that it was against the Knec Act to do so, caution in handling the matter is called for.

Most head teachers are reluctant to follow the directive because the Government is yet to offset millions owed to schools.

Understandably, there are many former students who have not been able to get admitted to colleges or even secure employment and other services because they do not have certificates. As such, the Government should go beyond threatening teachers with disciplinary measures and offer a lasting solution.