Radical measures to curb cheating in exams

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has introduced measures to manage this year’s national examinations in an attempt to restore confidence eroded by exam malpractice.

Dr Matiang'i, who early this year stated that examinations had been clearly mismanaged in past years, began with the disbandment of the Kenya National Examinations Board in April. This was the first step in instituting radical changes in the Education sector. Unlike previous years when the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) would dispatch a supervisor to manage respective examination centres, this year will see principals of schools that are also examination centres take charge of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.

School principals will be directly responsible for whatever happens in the centres and will be assisted by teachers in Job Group M and above. In previous years, a principal would hand over the centre to a Knec supervisor who would be charged with the exam process. KCSE candidates would be the only students in school as the rest would go home for holidays ahead of the national exams.

“We are comfortable with the changes and believe they will help achieve efficiency. We accept them as we watch what unfolds,” a high school principal who did not wish to be named told The Standard yesterday.

The KCSE examination period that normally starts around October 22 and ends mid-November was pushed forward as the CS adjusted the second and third term programmes. However, practical examinations that include agriculture will go on as usual.

The planned merger of examination centres that would see candidates registered in smaller centres brought together in one central point has now been pushed to next year. This comes amid a wave of arson in schools across the country. The Education ministry resorted to shortening the examination period, changing the exam timetable, suspending general meetings and social activities including prayers and visits, and scrapping half-term breaks in third term to seal any loopholes to exam leaks that have led to cancelled exam results in the past.

Activities such as general meetings, prayer and prize giving days, according to the ministry can only be held in the first and second terms to minimise cheating through contacts and the use of mobile phones. In the changes announced by the CS, the second term programme that normally comes to a close on August 5, will be extended by one week to August 12. Students will break for about two weeks before resuming on August 29 for the start of the third term.

Third term will close on October 28 for Standard One to Seven and Form One to Three so that exam candidates are left alone, ready for the start of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams on November 1 to November 3 and KCSE exam between November 7 and November 30.

When he released the 2015 KCSE results in March this year, Matiang’i expressed disappointment with the increased irregularities and promised drastic measures to curb them in future. A total of 522,870 candidates sat for the 2015 KCSE exams in the country - 279,289 males and 243,581 females spread across 8,646 examination centres.

Of these, 165,766 attained the minimum university entry qualification of C-plus and above. During the period, the number of candidates with an overall mean grade of A was 2,636.

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