Meeting on cheating in exams scheduled

A major meeting by government agencies to check on preparations for national examinations set for October and November is set to be held next week.

The meeting that will bring together officials from the Ministries of Education, Interior, and ICT, the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set for Tuesday.

It will review measures taken to safeguard the integrity of national examinations.

Education Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed will chair the meeting.

The government wants to explore strategies on how to deal with students who are still managing to use mobile phone to access examination materials.

It also wants to address the problem of collusion, which involves candidates producing identical responses in an examination and, in most cases, are assisted by teachers to do so.

Last year, results of 1,205 candidates in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination were cancelled.

Also roped in the exercise is National Intelligence Service (NIS) to help deal with this new emerging trend that is threatening the credibility of national examinations.

Knec also lined several meetings with head teachers who are centre managers and supervisors across the country to brief them on preparation of the examinations.

“We are doing well in term of examination preparations and we are ready to go,” said Knec acting chief executive officer Mercy Karogo.

The briefings will be attended over 40,000-plus primary and secondary school headteachers and supervisors.

It is part of a wider government campaign to seal all loopholes for cheating. The sessions will take place in all sub-counties between September 3 and September 7.

The meetings will be chaired by the County Commissioners at the county level and Deputy County Commissioners at the sub-county level.

All school activities involving parents and other outsiders have been banned ahead of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, which start on October 30 while KCSE will start on November 5.

According Knec, preparations for national exams are to be completed by September 20.

TSC has also directed teachers who will be involved in the management of national examinations this year to be vigilant and uphold the ethical and integrity standards governing the teaching profession.

Chief Executive Nancy Macharia also asked the examiners to ensure that any form of examination irregularity is detected, forestalled and appropriate remedial action taken in tandem with the relevant laws and regulations.

Mrs Macharia asked them not to accept to be compromised at all.

“The Commission relies on you for the successful completion of the forthcoming national examinations which will mark the end of the schools’ academic calendar for this year. On behalf of the Teachers Service Commission, I wish to congratulate and sincerely appreciate you all for your dedication, commitment and devotion towards preparing candidates for the national examinations,” said Mrs Macharia.

She went on: “However, your efforts in moulding the candidates and the enormous investments by parents, government and other stakeholders in this regard may not come to fruition if the integrity of the national examinations is not safeguarded.”

Mrs Macharia explained that centre managers, supervisors, invigilators and examiners will play a crucial role in ensuring that the rules, regulations and guidelines governing the conduct of national examinations are strictly adhered to by all stakeholders.

“We expect you to exhibit high standards of integrity and professionalism so that we can collectively deliver this important exercise as a teaching service,” said the CEO.

Already the Commission has interdicted 26 principals, supervisors and invigilators over their involvement in exams cheating.

Knec in its report on cheating released a month ago, revealed that cheating was reported in 64 examination centres in last year’s national examinations.