Grades cancelled in 335 Kenyan schools

Pupils from 335 schools countrywide had their results cancelled due to cheating, Education minister Sam Ongeri said on Wednesday.

Prof Ongeri noted that senior teachers, supervisors and even parents were involved in abetting the vice.

In one instance, a teacher conned parents and candidates of Sh810,000 in the pretext that he would supply them with Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam papers in advance.

In another case, a pupil had answers written on a sandal he was wearing in the exam room.

Prof Ongeri on Wednesday displayed the sandal as he released the KCPE results. He also showed a shirt with exam answers written on it.

“Candidates have also not been left behind in innovating new ways of cheating,” said the minister.

Earlier, cheating was done by way of impersonation, candidates caught with mobile phones and also notes smuggled into the exam room.

“But candidates have now turned to collusion with headteachers, supervisors, invigilators, parents and even the community where the school is located to cheat in exams,” the minister said.

In another instance, a district education officer and a headmaster tried to bribe a supervisor not to report collusion.

According to Prof Ongeri, when she refused to be bribed, “she was threatened with death and had to leave the region immediately.”

Nyeri, Turkana, Laikipia and Busia counties recorded no cases of cheating according to the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) ranking.

Seventeen schools in Nairobi County had their results cancelled due to exam irregularities, while 15 in Bomet, 13 in Meru and 11 others in Mombasa suffered the same fate.

Other counties that recorded cases of schools cheating include Kwale (4), Kiambu (5), Makueni (5), Kitui (4), Nandi (6) and Samburu (5).

However, Knec didn’t state the number of pupils whose results were cancelled in the 335 schools, but Prof Ongeri noted that this was 1.5 per cent of the total number of schools that did the test.