The Ministry of Education (MoE) announced a new method the government will apply in investigating and punishing people involved in malpractice during the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examinations.
Speaking on Monday, November 11, Education CS Julius Migos Ogamba said the government will punish individuals and not groups like in previous years.
“We have put in place very serious measures to the extent that if there is any malpractice this year, we are going to condemn an individual and not the whole school or examination centre,” he said.
Ogamba used a scenario where a supervisor opens the exam papers and takes a photo while moving from the collection centre to the schools.
He explained that the ministry will know the specific supervisor because the signal will be picked from where he took the photo.
“It is individualized, so we will deal with you as an individual,” he said.
The CS said the government will conduct investigations and punish individuals in cases where exam cheating affects the whole team or institution like the case reported in Homabay County.
“Where we find that the whole team collaborated or conspired to ensure that there is some interference like it happened in Homabay, we will follow the evidence and ensure that all those who are involved face the law,” Ogamba said.
In cases where a student takes a photo of his own paper while in the examination room, Ogamba said the Ministry will identify that specific student because each paper is serialized with the details of individual students.
“That is the student who will face the music when the results are released. We will not be punishing the whole institution because it is individualized,” he said.
Also Read: KCSE 2024: KNEC Announces New Exam Paper Features
Judiciary to Speed Exam Cheating Cases
Ogamba urged supervisors and teachers to work diligently, follow the simple and clear guidelines, and avoid being caught in such scenarios.
He revealed that people who were encouraging malpractice on Instagram were arrested and arraigned.
The CS said the Ministry urged the Judiciary to speed up the hearing of exam malpractice case to ensure that suspects face the law.
“We have asked the Judiciary to help us to ensure that prosecution is swift and fast so that people face the music. It has been that investigations and prosecutions take too long, people forget that these things happened, so they keep on repeating,” he said.
Ogamba oversaw the distribution of exam papers at Lang’ata Sub-County Headquarters, Nairobi on Monday, November 8 during the second week of KCSE.
Also Read: KCSE 2024: Another Candidate Dies As 8 Teachers Are Arrested
KCSE Exam Malpractice Cases
During the 2024 test, the ministry recorded several cases of examiners attempting to sneak mobile phones and other materials to KCSE candidates.
For instance, eight teachers from Pala Masogo Secondary School in Homa Bay were arrested for allegedly being involved in examination malpractice.
The teachers were arrested after allegedly being caught photocopying the chemistry exam papers on school grounds.
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