Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos on Monday assured parents, students, and teachers that the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) will no longer cancel entire centers' national exams if malpractice is detected.
Instead, the CS noted that the examiner will handle cheating cases on an individual basis to ensure that no collateral damages are incurred.
Addressing examiners at Lang'ata Sub-County Headquarters in Nairobi, Migos explained that security measures were put in place to curb leakages and that individuals, including students, carry their crosses when caught.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to report that we put in place very serious measures to the extent that this year if there is any malpractice, we are not going to condemn the whole school, center, or number of people who are there. It is going to be individualised," the CS stated.
"I say that because, for example, if you are moving from here (center) to the school and you open those exam papers and take a photo, we will know that it is you because you picked it from here. So we will deal with you as individuals."
Migos further noted that in case a student is caught, the investigators will use the individual's serialised exam papers to determine the source of the malpractice and punish the culpable examiners or students.
In cases of collaboration in malpractice at a specific centre, the CS assured that the government would only deal with individuals after the conclusion of investigations.
"Where we find that individuals collaborated or conspired as it happened in Homa Bay, we will follow the evidence and ensure that those involved face the music," he added.
"Where we find that a student has taken a phone into the exam room, taken a photo of their paper, and sent it around, we will know that it was that student because all papers are serialised. That is the student who will face the music when the result is released. It will not be condemning the whole institution."
He noted that blanket punishments affected innocent participants whose hard work was overlooked.
"You are working very hard. You wake up very early, you are there struggling, and then one or two individuals who have commercialised this exercise give us a bad name. We want to clean this sector. we want this sector to be hygienic, we want to do the right thing because it is for posterity," Migos told the delegation.
In previous instances, entire schools saw their exams cancelled after KNEC investigations concluded that some centers were engaged in exam malpractices.
In 2023, KNEC withheld the KCSE results of more than 4,000 students over alleged irregularities and cancelled the results of four candidates over impersonation.
Then CS Ezekiel Machogu, while releasing the results in January this year, confirmed that 120 contracted professionals reportedly engaged in irregularities and vowed disciplinary action against them.
Two weeks later, however, KNEC released the results of Kisii's Cardinal Otunga Boys (432 students) and Nyakongo Secondary School (263 students) which had been withheld.
Other schools that were affected included Mabera Secondary School in Migori and Samoei Secondary School in Nandi.
