Education CS George Magoha has warned students and teachers planning to engage in any examination malpractice of dire consequences.
On Monday morning, some 831,015 Form 4 students began sitting for the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations in 10, 413 centres spread across the country.
The number of candidates increased by 78,034, signifying a 9.39 per cent surge from the 752,981 candidates who sat the exams in 2020.
The students began with English Paper One followed by Mathematics Paper One and English Comprehension.
Magoha said the government was able to dismantle a cartel made of teachers, parents and students that was planning to steal examinations.
“The children are not guilty. The guilty are the parents and mostly teachers, some of whom are just crooks. However, we have noticed that they have formed a new one. We are closely monitoring them and shall soon catch up with them,” Magoha said.
On the first day of the examination, Magoha said, two Form 4 students in Nairobi were found with mobile phones before the morning papers.
He said the two students were however allowed to continue sitting for the examination, but they will be monitored.
However, Magoha said that the teachers and individuals behind the examination cheating will be dealt with harshly.
“I want to warn that any teacher who feels that he or she is brave enough to open, particularly the second paper, [know that] we shall come for you,” he said.
“We will not have mercy for those arrested. We shall be quite dictatorial for the sake of our children because we must protect them.”
Magoha was speaking in Mombasa at the Nyali deputy county commissioner’s office, where he supervised the distribution and monitoring exercise of the first day’s KCSE materials.
According to the CS, the Form 4 candidates are well prepared for the examination because they completed the syllabus more than three months ago.
“I want to wish the candidates the very best in their exams and tell them that they should run away from Satan. Don’t allow someone to send you things on the phone. You don’t need an idiot to give you the wrong answers,” Magoha said.
Since 2016, a multi-agency team comprising ministries of Education, ICT and Interior and other education stakeholders have been working hand in hand in monitoring distribution of examination materials.
"We have been able to deliver credible examination and our students have been called to international universities," Magoha said.
For the students who are in areas that might not be easily accessible, the CS said the government has 10 choppers on standby to deliver the examinations.
“We have several choppers, about 10 of them. One was this morning called to duty in parts of Kajiado. We also have areas like Lamu and Turkana, which might not be accessible, but we have assured students that they will receive the examination papers on time.”
(edited by Amol Awuor)
