Some 320 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam candidates and invigilators, who were involved in exam malpractices, will know their fate in two weeks.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Monday directed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chief executive Nancy Macharia to take appropriate action against the tutors involved.
“During the marking, Knec established that 320 candidates in seven centres colluded during the administration of the exam. These candidates will be awarded a mark of zero in the affected subjects,” said Prof Magoha.
A total of 1,214,031 candidates sat the exam in 28,313 centres between March 7 and 9 and were tested in seven subjects. The exercise was administered by 174,910 professionals, including teachers, police officers and other government personnel.
Ms Macharia said the commission will act firmly and expeditiously on the teachers who will be found guilty of aiding in irregularities.
“Nearly all the 130,667 teachers involved in the examination conducted themselves with utmost professionalism. This is testimony to the fact that our teachers are determined to ensure a credible examination in our schools,” she said.
The ministry said that at least 70 incidents that were reported across the country involved attempts at breaches by some centre managers but they were detected and stopped.
Some of these involved taking pictures of exam questions and taking them out of the centres, which would then be shared with hired people for answers before they are smuggled back to the candidates.
The ministry banned mobile phones in all centres except for the exam manager and security officers. “Cell phones have been banned from exam rooms. If you try to use one in the room, we shall arrest and charge you. If you are a teacher, your job will be gone,” said Prof Magoha.
Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) chief executive John Onsati said machine scoring ensured each candidate got accurate results.
“I wish to reiterate that Knec remains committed in its endeavour to deliver credible assessment by putting in place all the necessary measures to uphold integrity in the certification process,” he said.
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