Naivasha, Kenya – Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Belio Kipsang has announced a significant decrease in integrity issues during this year’s exams, with the primary challenge of early exposure to exam papers being effectively addressed.
According to Kenya News Agency, Dr. Kipsang credited the improvement to a new protocol where center managers now collect exam papers from containers twice a day, instead of once. This change has eliminated the possibility of early exposure, as there is no opportunity to open the papers before students sit for the exam. “The managers pick the second paper of the day from the containers as they drop the students’ answer scripts of the first paper,” explained Dr. Kipsang.
The PS also highlighted the collaborative efforts of the ministry with security and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) departments in minimizing malpractices this year. ICT officials have successfully infiltrated and blocked online sites that were previously used for early exposure and other malpractices related to exams.
Out of 11,000 center managers, only seven have been implicated in exam malpractices and are currently suspended, pending further investigation. The suspended individuals include principals from various high schools in Nyamira County and the Upper Nyanza region, accused of facilitating exam malpractice through mobile phones.
Dr. Kipsang made these remarks while inspecting the ongoing exam process at Naivasha Girls’ Secondary School. He also announced the commencement of marking for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams, aiming to release results in good time for secondary school enrollment in January. Special measures, including the deployment of helicopters, have been implemented to ensure students in flood-affected areas can participate in the exams.
Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Njeng’ere, accompanying the PS, noted that since 2016, the greatest challenge with exams has been the early exposure of the second paper of the day. This issue has been resolved with the new collection arrangement for center managers.
This year, 903,260 candidates are sitting for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, an increase from the previous year. The exams, conducted across 11,000 centers, began on November 6 and are expected to conclude on November 24. Additionally, the Ministry of Education reported that the marking of KCPE and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KIPSEA) exams has started, with results to be released before the Christmas holiday. A total of 1,415,315 KCPE and 1,282,574 KIPSEA candidates participated in the 2023 exams.