How minister slew exam cheating dragon

The conclusion of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations on Wednesday marked a milestone in exam management after the government went to great lengths to ensure no cheating and no leakage was perpetrated.

Unlike the previous 30 years, when cheating became rampant in the Form Four and Standard Eight examinations, not a single case was reported this year.

“The administration of the examinations has been smooth,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday when he toured schools in Machakos County to oversee the conduct of physics, the last paper to be sat this year. “We had credible exams.

“This is a classic case of success.”

Although the examinations were administered under a new set of strict conditions, evidence of irregularities is often detected during marking in case of a glaring similarity in the answers.

Dr Matiang’i was, however, confident that no results will be cancelled given the security measures placed around the exams — right from its planning, setting and execution.

In an exclusive interview with the Nation in his Jogoo House office, the minister revealed how President Uhuru Kenyatta set the bar for him when he transferred him from the Lands ministry to Education late last year.

INTELLECTUAL DISHONESTY

“The President told me in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want to hear about any form of irregularities in examinations or wastage in the management of funds in the schools as has been the case in the past,” said Dr Matiang’i, adding: “He actually asked me, ‘What do you need from me so that you deliver credible examinations and a well-run education system in the country? Let me know what help you may want from me because we can’t go on this way.”

For the former university lecturer and a consultant for various international organisations, the work was cut out for him and he did not have much time to show the results.

Dr Matiang’i signalled a new age in the administration of exams last year during the release of the KCPE results where 2,709 candidates were found to have cheated, up from 1,702 the previous year. In addition, results for 5,100 KCSE candidates were struck off in the same year for cheating.

Describing cheating as the lowest form of intellectual dishonesty, Dr Matiang’i swung into action.

The radical process aimed at ending the vice saw the overhaul of Knec, the introduction of rules and processes to guide the administration of exams, a complete change in the planning and setting of test papers and a drastic adjustment of the school calendar to accommodate the reforms.

FIERCE RESISTANCE

“We introduced these changes as a ministry despite fierce resistance from the teachers, Knec officials and some parents and today I can confidently say our reforms have worked for now and in the future,’’ said Dr Matiang’i.

Not one to hog the credit, however, he attributed the success to teamwork within the government, especially various Education ministry departments.

The CS, who made a whistle-stop tour of test centres across the country throughout the exam period, on Wednesday explained how he set about overhauling the exam system.

He recalled how, following several meetings with senior Knec officials and after making several unannounced visits to the examination body’s headquarters, he was shocked at the “systemic rot and lethargy at the offices”.

Said Dr Matiang’i: “I realised that most of the officials responsible for setting, preparing and printing the examinations had been working at Knec for years and were running huge businesses with the exams.

“They had grown with the system and had mastered it. They would simply save the questions in flash disks, which they would then sell to their agents for distribution to teachers and students.”

By the time he dissolved the Knec board and sent more than 10 senior officers home, Dr Matiang’i was confident cheating would soon be a thing of the past.

“The board tried to convince me that it was the police who were leaking the examinations,” said the minister. “They came to my office with PowerPoint presentations and videos to show how envelopes were opened and re-sealed in police stations but I wasn’t convinced.

“Most of these people had no integrity or even decency.”

RUTHLESS DISCIPLINARIAN

The CS said he earned the confidence of his colleagues within the government when he appointed a former University of Nairobi Vice-Chancellor, Prof George Magoha, who is known as a ruthless disciplinarian and a stickler for rules, as the Knec chairman, replacing Prof Kabiru Kinyanjui.

He also appointed Ms Mercy Karogo, a former senior deputy director at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, as the acting chief executive, replacing Dr Joseph Kivilu.

Dr Matiangi heaped praise on school principals, majority of whom he described as selfless and committed, and his Cabinet colleagues Joseph Nkaissery (Interior) and Joseph Mucheru (ICT) for lending support during the examinations period.

However, despite the general consensus that the exams have been conducted competently for the first time in recent history, teachers have complained that the allowances — at Sh400 a day for invigilators and Sh500 for supervisors — were too low and therefore not worth the risk.

They have also complained of harassment by education officers, saying any slight indiscretion, such as lateness, was met with severe punishment, including interdiction.

But Dr Matiangi said the complaints were unjustifiable because the teachers running the exams were on full salary and the allowance was only a token, adding: “Still, we operate on a budget and we can only give what we have.”

On harassment, the CS said. “I haven’t heard of anyone complaining they were treated badly.

“But people have to be disciplined. Why should you be late for such an important exercise? This culture of whining and moaning must end.
“If you’re given a job, you must do it competently.”