Five KCSE exam candidates were on Friday deregistered by the Kenya National Examinations Council over cheating allegations. Forty teachers will be disciplined over the irregularities.
The candidates have been discontinued from sitting the exam, Education CS Amina Mohamed said in Naivasha town.
She did not name the candidates or schools. “We are still scrutinising the equipment we confiscated from the students. If additional students need to be deregistered, we will do that.” Other officials that may be punished include centre managers that “do not do what is expected”. Private schools were cited as being vulnerable to cheating as administrators hire quacks as invigilators.
Private schools hiring unregistered teachers as invigilators have been warned that they risk deregistration. The Cabinet Secretary said the candidates were found with “foreign material and documentation” before the Mathematics Paper Two exam. The CS said: “We took away the materials … They will not be allowed to continue with the exams because … they committed an omission.”
CS Amina was in Naivasha to open an examination container as well as an impromptu visit in selected schools. She urged centre managers to thoroughly check candidates as they enter the exam rooms. “It doesn’t matter how many times a candidate leaves the exam room. Every time the candidate comes back he needs to be fully frisked.” Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia said centre managers who abet exam cheating will be punished. She spoke at Kariokor where she witnessed the opening of an exam container.
