•Magoha said they are currently pursuing examination officials who exposed the contents of the Agriculture Paper 1 to some candidates.
•"Firm action will be taken against the perpetrators. This will help us maintain the integrity of the national examinations, as we have done over the last five years," he said.
Eleven examination officials have been arrested over attempts to expose KCSE examination papers , Education CS George Magoha has said.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Magoha said the officials who include centre managers and supervisors are from Homa Bay, Mandera, Kisii, Garissa and Kisumu.
In Homa Bay county, they arrested two centre managers and a supervisor.
A centre manager and two supervisors were arrested in Mandera. In Kisii, a centre manager and two supervisors were arrested.
In Garissa, a centre manager was arrested and two others in Kisumu.
"I wish to assure the country that these attempts to access the examinations have not interfered with the credibility of the examinations as the exposed questions were never accessed by the candidates," Magoha said.
He warned anyone who intends to compromise the integrity of the examinations that tough action will be meted out to them.
"Although we have been decisive and ruthless in our pursuit of the masterminds of these unethical practice, we regrettably note that some of them are determined to go to any lengths in a bid to expose the contents of the examination papers once they are released in the morning to schools after 6am," he said.
Magoha said they are currently pursuing examination officials who exposed the contents of the Agriculture Paper 1 to some candidates.
"Firm action will be taken against the perpetrators. This will help us maintain the integrity of the national examinations, as we have done over the last five years," he said.
"All the remaining examination materials will remain safely kept to ensure the sanctity of the ongoing examinations."
A day ago, a secondary school teacher who was accused of masterminding KCSE examination irregularities in Nyanza region was arraigned and denied the charges.
Kelnvince Magolo, a teacher at Nyagwethe Secondary School in Suba South constituency, denied the charges before Homa Bay Principal Magistrate Joy Wasonga.
Magolo, who is 32, was accused of being in possession of KCSE exam materials and information on his phone contrary to laws governing exams in Kenya.
Last week, a secondary school teacher suspected of masterminding KCSE exam leakage in Nyanza was also arrested in Homa Bay.
County commissioner Moses Lilan said the teacher is suspected to be the chief supplier of leaked exam material in Homa Bay, Kisii, Nyamira and Migori.
Mobile phones, fake leakage papers and early exposure have now emerged as new schemes used in efforts to cheat in the 2020 KCSE exam that enters the third week on Monday.
Last month, Magoha said at least 15 people, among them teachers, have been arrested and are under investigations for scheming examination cheating in the 2020 KCSE examinations.
The CS said the ministry had unearthed a scheme involving circulation of false examinations sold to parents as leakage of the national exam.
Such a case had been witnessed in Kericho, the CS said, noting that the person responsible, a businessman, has since been arrested.