A wave of exam impropriety sweeping across the country has dwarfed a new set of security features on this 2024 KCSE questions papers, exposing the rot and offering fresh insights into the ogre of cheating.
The new KNEC rules that include double collection of the exam papers intended to seal the challenge of early exposure of the second session paper, the surrender of phones for secure storage by the supervisor, and personalization of question papers have paled against a cabal of KCSE fraudsters with tangents connecting to some principals, teachers and exam officials.
KNEC chief executive David Njengere last week sought to reassure the public amid reports of widespread malpractices, yet by the close of the second week last Friday, the cheating ogre was relentless as principals, scores of teachers, supervisors and invigilators got nabbed over breaches and malpractices in exam centres.
A quick preview of KCSE exam incidents reported in the past fortnight proves that Western Kenya’s top schools are part of the exam leakage corridor. Scores are neither clean nor caught.
Extracts from covert investigations on the novelty of cheating reveal that KNEC may have reverted to emergency papers after the first week of exams because most papers had leaked.
The arrest of Collins Kemboi, 23, alleged to be the fraudster behind sale of 2024 KCSE exam papers, confirmed fears the exam had leaked. However, his arrest only fortified a supposed resolve by some schools to cheat, albeit via traditional ways to justify the millions of shillings dolled in by parents so as to enhance KCSE results.
Forget tales and myths about extensive use of phones in the exam cheating this year. Investigations suggest that cheating in most schools was pre-planned, with CCTV coverage switched off, and candidates hypnotized to cheat.
YOU MAY ALSO READ:
In a girls school in Mumias for example, KNEC was forced to station a special exam monitor permanently at the start of the second week after reports highlighted acts of collusion between teachers, supervisors and candidates.
It is believed that exam officials did not stop candidates from having group discussion in the exam room.
Another record of confessions reveals how an invigilator picked a Chemistry pp2, scribbled the questions on paper, took it to the principal who shared it with a Chemistry teacher. The answers were worked out, answer sheet photocopied and distributed in the exam room.
Asked about the spike in cheating incidents in this year’s exam, Njengere said only the level of exposure was high, attributing that to the success of the new security features on KCSE question papers which provide prompt intelligence for action.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba on his part denied that the leakage was widespread, while his Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang appeared to blame parents for giving candidates some of the phones impounded in exam centres.
By Simiyu Muchele
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
