- There has been public outcry after it emerged that after some candidates received score for even subjects they did not enroll for.
- The ministry has already engaged ICT ministry to help in auditing the transmission system with the aim of locating the cause of the anomaly.
The government has engaged forensic experts to establish how fake results were transmitted during this year’s KCPE results, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has said.
Machogu while defending the credibility of the 2023 KCPE results clarified that errors were only with the transmission system using the short code.
There has been public outcry after it emerged that after some candidates received score for even subjects they did not enroll for.
In some instances, grades in the SMS were missing the quality signs of plus (+) or minus (-).
Results from the short code had a number students scoring 73 marks indicated as B+ while others with the same score indicated B (plain).
“At the onset, I have to clarify that there were no such anomalies in the results that were sent by KNEC to schools and which were also available in the KNEC portal,” Machogu said.
“This year, anomalies of assigning different grades to identical marks were reported on the SMS platform messages. There were no such anomalies in the official results on the KNEC portal and in the printouts sent to schools.”
Machogu spoke when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Education Committee to apprise Parliament on the concerns raised on the errors witnessed in this year’s KCPE.
The CS said his ministry has already engaged ICT ministry to help in auditing the transmission system with the aim of locating the cause of the anomaly.
“I wish to inform the committee that we have requested the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, to undertake a comprehensive audit on the causes of these anomalies on the SMS platform,” Machogu stated.
The audit, according to the CS, will be concluded in the next 14 days.
The minister was however put to task to explain whether the ministry ever conducted a dry-run for results transmission before the material day.
“Did you run a trial on the SMS system service provider before the release of exams?” posed committee chairman Julius Melly (Tinderet).
“How would you allow a service provider to relay the results without testing?” said Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera.
The CS admitted that the system was taken through stress test but the problem occurred due to truncation of date by the service provider leading to the errors.
“The field that was being used to fetch and display the subject score and grade had been assigned less space than required and was therefore truncating any score that had a plus (+) or minus (-), hence displaying an erroneous grade on the SMS text,” the CS explained.
He was accompanied by Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang and Kenya National Examination Council CEO David Njengere.
Members at the same time questioned the Sh25 that was charged for every SMS claiming it was way too high compared to the market rate.
Emgwen MP Josses Kosgey claimed the amount that was charged was the highest in the market.
“How did you arrive at the Sh25 per SMS when in the regular market bulk SMS goes for as low as Sh1?” posed Kosgey.
The minister at the same time dismissed claims that tender wars were responsible for the mistakes that has seen 712 students query results that they were awarded by the national examiner.
On Wednesday, opposition chief Raila Odinga alleged a multibillion-shilling tender war at the ministry that saw the termination of the contract given to from Austin Printing Limited, a UK firm.
“We have established that early this year, the Kenya Kwanza administration suddenly and abruptly stopped this contract just because the UK company refused to give kickbacks,” Raila said on Wednesday.
“The government was advised that the Mombasa Road-based company did not have the capacity to print the exams and also ensure its security and integrity, especially on such a short notice. Nobody would budge because there were kickbacks involved.”
Machogu yesterday admitted the change in the service provider but explained the contract is always awarded annually and this year it was given to a local.
“We have not terminated anybody’s contract. Each and every year a contract is warded. Kenya has come of age and we are competent to print exams here locally,” Machogu said.
The CS also informed the committee that the ministry has dropped the SMS platform and will be unveiling a website where 2023 KCSE results will be posted for members of public at no fee.
KNEC CEO Njengere disclosed that the council had by December 4, 2023 received 712 queries, of which 568 had been resolved.