Knec upbeat as Form Four exams start

By Sam Otieno

It’s all systems go as the 357,789 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates sit their English paper this morning to mark the beginning of the national examinations season.

On Wednesday, Education PS James ole Kiyiapi was in Kisumu to oversee distribution of examination papers and ensure the exercise kicks off without any hitch.

The PS called for an end in the culture of cheating and urged parents to watch out for fraudsters purporting to sell examination papers.

He said the examination security is watertight to ensure all candidates are tested fairly.

“This is a new Kenya and we want to stamp out the vice in our examination once and for all. There are no genuine papers to be bought and no one should be misled to do the wrong thing. However, you should be careful as fraudsters will still peddle fake documents,” said the PS.

Strict instructions

Prof Kiyiapi said supervision of the examination has been strengthened and supervisors given strict instructions to check on any form of cheating.

There will be regular media briefings on the state of examination during the entire 19-day period, which candidates will sit the exams.

“We wish all the candidates success, and we want them to be confident because the exam is going to be fair,” he said.

The PS instructed supervisors to watch out for candidates entering with mobile phones in the exam room and conduct thorough frisking of candidates to prevent them from sneaking written materials in the exam room.

Examination papers to be sat this morning have reached their destinations and have been stored under tight security.

The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) said all examination documents have been delivered in all parts of the country.

KNEC CEO Paul Wasanga also cautioned students against irregularities and urged them to refrain from any activities that could lead to cancellation of their results.

“It is better for a candidate to get an honest ‘C’ than to get a dishonest ‘A’,” he said.

The Knec boss echoed President Kibaki’s message to fight corruption, saying examination irregularity was the root cause of corruption.

He said the weather across the country is so far favourable to the exercise but said emergency helicopters were on standby in areas that are prone to heavy rainfall and flooding.

Emergency measures

“Fortunately it has not rained, so we do not expect any challenge to reach flood prone areas. Emergency measures have, however, been put in place to counter any eventuality,” Wasanga assured.

The CEO appealed to the media to help the council in safeguarding the credibility of the examinations.

“As major stakeholders, we plead with you to work with us closely to ensure the exercise goes on uninterrupted,” said Wasanga.

Knec Senior Deputy Secretary in charge of field administration Eddah Muiruri said all officers were on the ground, adding all was well for the start of Thursday’s papers.

“As we speak, we are preparing the next batch to be delivered, and we are ready for a good start,” said Ms Muiruri.

The number of personnel that will be directly involved in the field administration of the examinations will be about 130,000.

This year, monitoring of examinations will be carried out on a larger scale than it was last year when 235 monitors were enrolled. This year, there are 285 monitors.

Knec has established a monitoring co-ordination office fitted with a toll- free line for the public to report examinations malpractices.

Wasanga said the number of supervisors has increased due to increase in candidature and examination centres. “Besides supervisors and invigilators, we also use other officers who include PDEs, DEOs, District Examination Officers, and security officers who have also increased because the number of districts has gone up.”