Police have revealed details of two incidents involving candidates sitting the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) 2024 examination.
In the first incident, a female student at Sironga Girls High School in Nyamira County collapsed on Tuesday, November 12, moments after a Ministry of Education official allegedly beat her.
Police say the candidate was taking the exam in class when a quality assurance officer entered the room at about 9 a.m.
According to the report, the student was chewing something which the quality assurance officer suspected to be “unauthorized material.”
“She moved closer and slapped the student severally but did not recover any exhibit to effect,” officers from the Nyamira police station said in a report.
The report added that after the ministry official left, the student remained restless in the class whereby she collapsed at around 10.a.m as the exam was about end.
Further, the report indicated that the student was rushed to the school dispensary, attended to and discharged “in fair state”, adding that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is probing the matter.
Also Read: 8 KCSE Candidates Rushed to Hospital After Collapsing
Elsewhere in Migori, another female KCSE candidate died while battling kidney and heart complications.
Another KCSE 2024 Candidate dies
A police report stated that the student at Okumbo Mixed Secondary School was undertaking her exams from the Migori County Referral Hospital under medical watch after being admitted on October 15.
The 19-year-old unfortunately succumbed on Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the said facility.
Migori County OCS and DCI officers visited the scene, and the body was preserved at facility’s mortuary awaiting postmortem.
Since the start of the KCSE 2024 theory exams, the country has reported several incidents involving candidates.
Besides the two cases, two earlier confirmed deaths are among the most concerning incidents that have occurred during the course of the exams.
In Tigania West, Meru County, a male KCSE candidate died on November 4, just hours before the national examinations began.
Meru County Commissioner Jacob Ouma confirmed the student’s death, although details regarding the cause of death remain vague.
In a separate incident, a cloud of grief engulfed Epanja village in East Wanga Ward and Ebubere Secondary School of Mumias East in Kakamega County following the sudden death of 19-year-old KCSE candidate, Calistus Wamboye Oteu.
His family while speaking to the press said that the candidate, and his sibling, who is also sitting the same national examination, left home in good health on Tuesday morning.
However, the family was soon devastated by the tragic news of the candidate’s demise which reportedly happened as he awaited to sit the national test.
The deceased’s body was transferred to St. Mary’s Mission Hospital morgue in Mumias, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Arrests made
The ongoing Form Four examinations have also highlighted cases of exam malpractice, with some candidates, invigilators and examination officials being put into custody.
Also Read: 13 Arrested Over KCSE Exam Cheating as Candidates Chew and Swallow Papers
On Tuesday, Police officers from Nandi County headquarters received intelligence report regarding malpractices in the ongoing exams within Kamimei mixed Secondary School in Nandi south Sub County.
The intelligence showed that the examination material CRE paper 1 of a certain candidate in that school had been photographed and the images were circulating on social media.
A multi-agency team led by the county commissioners, DCC Nandi South, his security team, Sub County Director of Education Nandi South and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) officers proceeded to the said school.
Upon arriving at the school, it was confirmed that the paper circulating on social media actually belonged to the student whose name was withheld due to the security features.
The police report indicated that the center manager, the supervisor, and two invigilators have all been taken into custody to assist in investigations.
Meanwhile, the ongoing KCSE examinations have also highlighted incidents of teenage pregnancies, with some candidates sitting for their initial papers in maternity wards.
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