Tough new rules as exams begin

School heads and supervisors have been banned from accessing spare examination papers in a new rule meant to stamp out cheating as Form Four examinations begin countrywide on Tuesday.

In the new order, however, the officials would be allowed to use mobile phones at examination centres to ensure they can effectively communicate with authorities whenever need arises.

The rule, which also maintains last year’s ban on candidates from carrying mobile phones to examination halls, further requires invigilators not to enter the rooms with their phones.

Mobile phones

“The supervisor and head teacher may keep their mobile phones (or use) should there be an emergency that needs to be communicated,” said the circular from Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) boss, Paul Wasanga.

It adds: “Spare examination question papers should never be given to the head teacher or teachers until the end of the examination session.”

It is the first Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam to be done since the introduction of free tuition in secondary education.

It is also the first time that technical subjects, which were reintroduced in 2005, will be tested. They include power mechanics, electricity, home science, wood work and metal work.

They were banned earlier on grounds that they were irrelevant and burdensome in the quest to make the 8-4-4 curriculum lighter. But the move was later reversed.

A total of 304,829 will be examined for the KCSE, which runs until November 17 in 5,183 schools.

This year’s candidates represent an increase of 28,590 students compared to the 276,239 who sat the exams in 2007.

The increase is partly attributed to the number of students who were retained in school for paying lesser fees due to the free secondary education programme.

Delivery of the papers to 837 centres countrywide started on Friday under the watch of about 18,000 police officers. They will be administered by 25,083 supervisors 51,445 and 17,902 security personnel.

Reports of unscrupulous individuals purporting to be selling examinations papers have heightened the council’s vigilance to weed out irregularities in the testing system.

But Mr Wasanga said students who cheat will have their results cancelled.

“Since you want to get your examination results, you must not get involved in trying to obtain any unfair help from anybody,” Mr Wasanga advised.

Mean grade error

Besides, the Knec has moved to upgrade its data processing programmes to guarantee that “a mean grade error” will never affect the results of the candidates in future.