Experts have asked the Minister of Education (MoE) to launch firm campaigns towards streamlining the KCSE examinations administration in order to rid the system of exam cheating and malpractices.
The experts warned that unless the system was cleaned up, the integrity of the examinations and the country’s education in general could face irredeemable damage.
Demands for the streamlining of the KCSE examinations setting and marking come as Kenyans await the final report of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education and Research.
Two educationists Dr. Githinji Wanjohi and Collins Bore averred that despite the parliamentary team’s independent inquiry, the ministry should launch a scrutiny of what may have transpired for successful remedial measures to be launched
The team led by Education committee chair, Julius Melly undertook a national inquiry into alleged exam malpractices in the 2022 KCSE and heard that there could have been rampant cheating facilitated by individuals across all sections of the examination.
While answering questions in parliament, however, the Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, seemed to downplay the entire fiasco through simplistic statistics and arguments to the legislative house.
Dr. Githinji, who is a leading education consultant, warned that, any manipulation of national examinations discredited the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) as well as the Ministry of Education.
In a scrutiny of various reports pinpointing that there could have been cheating in the 2022 KCSE tests, Dr. Wanjohi said that examination results in Kenya remained a matter of life and death because they determined the trajectory of each student’s future career- an issue which could never be taken for granted.
The ministry, suggested Dr. Githinji should keen against guarding the country never to slip back to the era before Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i and Professor George Magoha, when there was rampant cheating in the examinations all which went unresolved.
Apparent huge improvements in grades in the 2022 KCSE results not backed by research backed past trajectory records and trends, Dr. Githinji said should never have been taken lightly warning that, ‘hiding irregularities does not add value to the good the CS Machogu’s job appraisal”.
Denying that there was cheating, according to Dr. Githinji sent out a message of an Education CS who was not taking, the sensitive matter of alleged cheating in the KSCE seriously. That, the consultant insisted was likely to make an impression of abetting cheating in the national examinations.
Dr. Githinji noted that the emergence of extreme deviations of improvement of up to 5 points in the 2022 KSCE among little known schools as compared to the normally accepted 2.5 points should have been immediately marked as unrealistic.
Noted mean scores of very high grades by majority of students from little known schools and that none failed to make it to the university admission threshold, the education expert said had reason to raise genuine and honest eye-blows.
The consultant noted that grades should have been bench marked with the giant schools such as Kenya High, Mang’u, Maseno and Alliance among others which he argued were genuinely expected to record high grades based on the high and good KCPE examination graded candidates they admitted at form one each year.
Insisted Dr. Githinji, “If KCPE examination results were a true reflection of each child’s capacity it would be expected that national schools would emerge at the top”.
He felt that although some learners who did poorly in the KCPE national tests sometimes emerged top at the form four tests, it would still be unrealistic b for a sub-county school that admitted students with an aggregate of grade D+ emerging with a mean score of an A, A- or a B+.
Mr. Bore insisted that campaigns were needed to dissuade Kenyans and learners from the obsession with top grade because that was hugely to blame for greed and appetite to cheat in KSCE final national tests.
He warned that the obsession and unnecessary excitement about good grades needed to be stopped with students being allowed to perform to the best of their ability without overwhelming pressure.
Technical and vocational gained skills, Mr. Bore said remained important to the sometimes ignored D grade holders because, these institutions instilled the requisite technical skills to produce quality skilled human resource required for growth in different sectors of the economy.
Examination cheating, the educationist suggested could be tamed if the misconception that university students were more employable compared to their technical and vocational entities’ counterparts.
By Robert Nyagah,
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