Absentee and irresponsible parents are to blame for the irregularities being witnessed during the national examinations, Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang has said.
He said many students lack moral support due to little engagement with their parents consequently resulting to exam irregularities.
“Parental engagement is very important. We do not give time to our children and we expect the best out of them. The little time that we give them is what we do by contributing money to compromise the process, Dr Kipang said.
He was addressing journalists after presiding over the opening of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination container at Mwatate, Taita Taveta County on Wednesday morning.
The PS warned parents against being duped to contribute money to buy fake exam papers.
“We should now start punishing parents who are colluding with cartels to sabotage this process. How do we expect our children to be good citizens in future, when we have shown them shortcuts?” he posed.
A multiagency system, Dr Kipsang said has been employed to ensure high credibility of the national examination. Further he cautioned exam center managers to keenly monitor all the candidates to avoid cases of impersonation.
He added, “Let us not allow our career to be cut short by some of this criminals individuals who consciously register themselves for examinations knowing that they would want to do it in other way other than sitting for it,”
Kipsang who also visited Kenyatta High School and Murray Girls Secondary School in Mwatate subcounty, said cases of early pregnancies and school unrest at the Coast Region had drastically reduced compared to last year.
He applauded the media for closely working with the ministry in a combatted efforts to fight the vise in the society, further noting that no major exam challenge has been reported in the region.
Coast Regional Education Coordinator Hassan Duale noted that candidates were adequately prepared for the examination.
“The level of anxiety this year was quite low and I want to credit our teachers for a job well done. I urge all of us to let our children be children and sit for their exams. The exercise has gone on extremely well,” Duale said.
