The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results for 1,702 candidates have been cancelled by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) after they were caught cheating.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, the number of cheaters has been relatively low as they make up 0.19 per cent of the total 880,486 candidates who sat the examinations.
It emerged that in 15 of the 47 counties, there were no reported incidences of cheating. They included Taita-Taveta, Tana River, Lamu, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Machakos, Embu, Trans-Nzoia, West Pokot, Laikipia, Bungoma, Vihiga, Siaya and Garissa. Of the 15 counties, seven of them appear to be consistently free from the vice since they also reported no incidences of cheating last year. The ‘cleanest’ counties included Trans-Nzoia, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Lamu, Nyandarua, Vihiga and Siaya.
Of note is Garissa County, which was free of cheating this year regardless of suffering a high number of cancellation of results in 2012 over allegations of cheating. However, leaders and residents of the county cried foul, saying Knec had ulterior motives in the move after students in the county performed well.
According to Prof Kaimenyi, cheating in exams is encouraged by ranking according to performance, as candidates, teachers and even school proprietors try to stay ahead. The CS hoped that cases of cheating would be reduced as a result of the ban on ranking of both schools and candidates according to performance.
According to figures released by Knec, Kiswahili and English subjects recorded the highest incidences of exam irregularities this year, a trend that has been replicated in the last three years.
Kaimenyi wondered why the two subjects have attracted the highest number of cheaters over the years compared to other subjects and called for investigations to unearth the underlying reasons.
He instructed the Education Standards and Quality Assurance Council, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and Knec to lead in the forensic probe of the anomaly and suggest interventions to reverse the vice.
TEACHERS BLAMED
The examination council said collusion was the commonest form of examination irregularities reported across the country, constituting 99.9 per cent of cases; with Kaimenyi blaming this on poor supervision and invigilation of the exams by teachers.
“I wish to direct that severe disciplinary action be taken against any supervisor or invigilator who is found to have abetted cheating. Involvement of candidates in examination irregularities is just but a reflection of the decaying morals in today’s society,” he said.
Kaimenyi said it is extremely disheartening to note that parents and teachers who should be role models are sometimes at the forefront perpetuating and abetting the vice. “The onus is therefore on parents, guardians, teachers and the entire society at large to lead by example and instill values of honesty and hard work in children if we indeed expect to stamp out cheating,” he said.
