Northern Kenya lawmakers want an independent agency to investigate the cancellation of KCSE results for 3,427 students.
The MPs yesterday urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and have the Kenya National Examinations Council rescind its decision. They spoke at Parliament Buildings.
They dismissed claims of cheating in the exam and demanded an audit. The invalidation affected 44 centres in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and Isiolo counties.
Knec had said the candidates shared their answers after similarities were noted during marking. But the politicians said the students performed exceptionally well, only to be denied their “real results”.
Candidates whose scores are cancelled get Y as mean grade even if only one subject is invalidated.
“Despite all government agencies, including the Cabinet, taking part in exam supervision and Knec’s assurance that the exam was above board, it’s unfortunate the same Knec has cancelled results because of mass irregularities,” Dadaab MP Dahir Duale said.
“The mass cancellations and failures are a deliberate negative profiling of the region,” he said.
The group threatened to seek court orders to compel the exams agency to release the results, warning that the students risked becoming easy targets for terrorist groups.
Wajir South MP Mohamed Sheikh said the region will ensure the students “get their results”.
“Today we are talking of 100 per cent transition to secondary schools. Where will these students go? They cannot go back to school,” he said.
Isiolo Woman Representative Rehema Jaldesa said the cancellation is part of the broader scheme to marginalise the region.
“We feel we are being targeted. We want to understand why. Recently, the Commission on Revenue Allocation came up with a formula in which resource allocation will be pegged on population,” Jaldesa said.