Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has sounded an alarm on students producing fake report cards in cyber cafes across the country.
She revealed that this came to light after several students sought to edit their report cards for the just-concluded Second Term.
Amina stated that several reports had been made to field officers in the counties, further informing parents and guardians to confirm students' grades with the schools themselves.
Typically, savvy students, sometimes with the help of cyber cafe attendants, scan their report cards and edit key grades and scores while leaving security features such as rubber stamps intact.
They use software such as Photoshop and CorelDRAW to make the changes or to produce entirely new report cards.
[caption caption="Students at a past forum"]
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Once printed, the cards are used to convince parents of the students' great performance in school.
Speaking at the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi, Amina advised students to be proud of the grades they attain and to commit to work harder to ensure they improve.
She advised schools to put in place systems to relay results to parents directly once they are released.
"Parents are urged to be vigilant and confirm with their respective schools the authenticity of their children’s scores in cases if they suspect foul play...
"Schools should explore the use of bulk Short Text Messages to transmit results to parents and guardians," Amina stated.
[caption caption="CS Amina Mohammed"]
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