Murang’a: The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) has employed various measures that will ensure delivery of credible national exams. The council’s CEO David Njengere has assured that officers mandated to man the ongoing examinations were under strict instructions to curtail any malpractice in the administration of the exams.
According to Kenya News Agency, speaking after he led the exercise on distribution of exam papers from a container at Murang’a East, Njengere asked invigilators, supervisors, and centre managers to follow laid down regulations that will uphold the integrity of the national exams. The CEO further appealed to center managers to actively monitor that gates to schools remain open until exams are done to ensure a streamlined administration and credibility.
Njengere emphasized the importance of keeping the school gates open once the vehicle carrying examination materials enters the school compound. This measure is intended to allow officers monitoring the exams to easily access the exa
m centres and check for any malpractices. Among other rules set out by the council is to have all the mobile phones of the people in the examination centres kept under lock and key until the exam session is over.
Njengere also revealed that two cases of attempted impersonation were reported on Monday, the first day of the exams. He noted that both suspects were apprehended and are currently in custody as officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations pursue the cases. One suspect was arrested in Nairobi and the other in Kilifi County, and they will be charged before court.
Meanwhile, the CEO reiterated that supervisors and invigilators overseeing the ongoing national examinations will continue to receive the same rates of stipend as that of last year, despite calls from the teacher unions for a pay increase. He explained that current budget constraints prevent any increase in pay for invigilators this year, stating that KNEC had already raised the rates for supervisors and invigilators last year a
fter a five-year gap, and confirmed that these adjusted rates would remain in place for the current exams.
Teachers, through their unions, have been agitating for increased allowances to man the exam, claiming that inadequate compensation undermines Kenya’s standards for fair labour practices and adversely affects the morale of teachers, ultimately threatening the credibility of national examination.