Why this year’s national examination is flawless

Moi High School Kabarak Principal Elisheba Cheruiyot has a chat with KCSE canditates during their exam rehearsal last Friday. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Form four national examinations kick off on Monday against an enhanced security arrangement that saw a spotless three-day Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination last week.

Some 615,773 students conducted rehearsals last week for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

The candidates will sit Mathematics and Chemistry papers as written examinations start across 9,350 centres tomorrow.

Security committees comprising chiefs, parents and youth representatives have been formed across the country to help in administering the exam.

The Sunday Standard has established that the precision used to administer last week’s KCPE will be enhanced for KCSE exams.

Details of this year’s examination administration show that high-level security meetings, enhanced vigilance and extra security features introduced on examinations papers have kept off fraudsters and contained malpractices during this year’s tests.

The double roles of Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i in both Education and Internal Security ministries further led to smooth decision-making that pushed credibility of the 2017 exam a notch higher.

Notable incident

Only a handful cases were reported last week during the just-ended KCPE examination where some 1,003,556 candidates sat the tests across 28,566 examination centres.

A notable incident was in Baringo County where a Form One student attempted to write the examination for a candidate in Kapngetuny Secondary School.

Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) chairman George Magoha said the case was arrested because of the working systems put in place.

“That means that our systems are working and anyone attempting to engage in examination malpractice will be in for a rude shock,” Prof Magoha said last week.

And as KCSE starts tomorrow, the Ministry has suspended leave for education officers until examinations are completed.

In his circular dated October 30, Education PS Belio Kipsan’g reminds regional coordinators of education, county directors of education and sub-county directors of education to remain vigilant.

“All officers should participate as and such no leaves will be approved during this period,” said Kipsan’g.

Sources familiar with the finer details revealed that planning the examinations were meticulous and with ‘military precision.’

President Uhuru Kenyatta led his Cabinet team to monitor the examinations, revealing the high level planning and execution of this year’s examinations.

Three ministries – Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Education and Internal Security – have provided staff to monitor the examinations.

The initiative is part of the elaborate inter-ministerial monitoring teams put in place across the country.

Uhuru made a surprise visit to Westlands Primary School where he interacted with KCPE candidates before the start of the Science exam.

“We have done everything we can to ensure that your exams are going to be done in an orderly and transparent manner,” the President said.

Daily reports

Last week, Matiang’i was in Wote, Makueni County to oversee the operations.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru was in Nyeri County to supervise distribution of examination material to schools.

Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki went to Kiambu town.

In a Twitter message, Matiang’i listed more Cabinet colleagues who participated in the administration process, including Eugene Wamalwa, Jacob Kaimenyi, Charles Keter, Phyllis Kandie, Dan Kazungu, Amina Mohammed, Judy Wakhungu, James Macharia and Cleopa Mailu.

“To all Knec & Ministry officials, the County Security and logistics teams, well done for playing your part in delivering a clean KCPE 2017,” Matiang’i said in the tweet.

Education staff from Kenya Institute of Special Education (Kise), Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), and Knec have also been deployed to oversee the examinations.

And to enhance security, Matiang’i chaired high-level security meetings where finer details of examination administration were discussed.

It emerged that coordination of examination processes and response to security alerts were made easier because Matiang’i oversaw operations of both ministries.

“This means decision making was made easier and faster,” said an insider.

Overall, the 47 counties were mapped out and hot spots with potential of disruptions identified and measures put in place to mitigate. Committees were set up in trouble spot areas comprising about 25 people to stay vigilant and guard examinations.

This means that cases like the one where Matiangi’s press team were stoned in Kawangware will not be witnessed again as the teams will work with local community to champion administration of exams.

Filing reports

Kipsan’g’s circular requires education officials to file daily examination reports, and a WhatsApp group for top Ministry of Education officials has also been set up to ease monitoring of the exam in real time.

“Regional coordinators of education are expected to file daily reports on the WhatsApp platform on progress of the national education within their jurisdictions,” read the circular.

While filing reports on the platform, Kipsang said officials must point out any challenges that may have arisen during the process.

“The ministry county directors of education and TSC county directors will file joint reports daily,” read the circular.

In addition to these, no official is authorised to speak to the media regarding the exam.

“You are further advised that press statements on the examinations can only be done by chairman of Knec of Cabinet Secretary where necessary,” said the Education PS.