Phones, early exposure to exams among cheating tactics

Mobile phones, impersonation and early exposure to exam materials were among tactics that were used in efforts to cheat during the 2020 KCSE examination.

Education CS George Magoha on Monday said some students had invented a new way of cheating by scribbling inside their shirts and T-shirts.

Results for 287 candidates have been cancelled due to cheating, Magoha said.

Some 211 candidates will not get their results after they were found with unauthorised materials. That is an increase of 100 more candidates compared to 101 students who missed their results over similar reasons in 2019.

The CS said 45 candidates were found with mobile phones as compared to 47 in 2019.

There was a single case of impersonation compared to two the previous year.

Another 29 candidates were found colluding. In 2019, 1,158 candidates were found colluding. One candidate was found with a double script, the same as in 2019.

In 2019, some 1,309 candidates did not get their results for getting involved in various forms of cheating.

Magoha said there were isolated cases where some of those entrusted to safeguard the exam papers opened them in the morning ahead of test time. 

He said with a strong security system, most of the cases were pre-empted and culprits arrested.

"Some of these criminals were unaware that our security systems had the ability to detect the exact location of opening the examination papers and even the identity of the mobile phones that were used to relay the questions. Thanks to this elaborate security system, we ensured that the stolen exam questions did not reach the intended recipients," Magoha said.

A few cases of impersonation and collusion have also been recorded in some of the centres, which were confirmed and punished in line with the Kenya National Examinations Council Act.

"We are therefore not cancelling examinations for any centre, other than individual candidates of certain centres, where we established beyond doubt that they were involved in examination irregularities," Magoha said.

The CS said leaking of exams has been eradicated after four years of a sustained and relentless campaign to fight the 'shameful and inexcusable' practice.

"Since 2016, we have not recorded a single case of a leaked examination paper. Our decision to employ a robust security-led system of delivering examinations directly to the containers before dispatching them to various centres has been foolproof," Magoha said.

Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia said they have resolved to launch a transparent process of biometric enrolment and validation of teachers in all public schools.

"This will entail enlisting their fingerprints, which can then allow for forensic and intelligence-led investigations in cases where examination papers are tampered with, and where cell phones and other gadgets are used to commit examination malpractices," Macharia said.

She said the use of biometric validation will assist in vindicating innocent teachers from being blamed for offences they did not commit.

The TSC is at the tail-end of finalising consultations with the office of the Data Commissioner on the rollout of the biometric capture of all teachers.

"In the future, all teachers joining the TSC will undergo the biometric enrolment before they enter our payroll," Macharia said.

She said a number of cases were reported to Knec alleging that some teachers contracted either as centre managers, supervisors or invigilators were involved in the unethical behaviour of opening the examination papers as soon as they are released from the containers.

Such teachers, she said, would screenshot examination questions using their mobile phones before disseminating them either to candidates directly or to people hired to answer the questions on behalf of the candidates.

"We are very disappointed by these reports, especially when they involve professional teachers."

In one case, Macharia said, it was alleged that a school principal took screenshots of questions, disseminated and even went ahead to post them on her WhatsApp profile.

In another case, a senior teacher’s cell phone containing screenshots of questions of a paper was recovered as the gadget was being transported to a candidate who was sitting the exam at a hospital.

"We will act decisively and conclusively on errant teachers while upholding the rules of natural justice and the principle of due process as stipulated in the Code of Regulations for Teachers," she said.

A total of 747,161 candidates sat the 2020 KCSE exam compared to 697,222 in 2019. This represented an increase of 49,939 candidates (6.68 per cent).

Of the candidates who sat the 2020 exam, 380,327 were male while 366,834 were female.

Edited by P.O