As preparations for the national examinations enter the final leg, new details have emerged of how the government has deployed officials posing as parents in a bid to nab cheating syndicates in schools.
A report released following a closed-door meeting presided over by Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang implicated at least 30 high school principals with aiding parents to illegally acquire examination papers.
The Education Ministry deployed officials posing as parents to attend prayer day meetings in schools to gather intelligence on how the cheating was being planned.
It was discovered that the prayer days were still being carried out in various schools despite the ban on such activities in the third term of the academic calendar.
The spies were able to acquire information in form of video and audio recordings from such meetings without the knowledge of the school management.
Some of the recordings captured a number of principals thanking parents for 'co-operating' with them in terms of chipping in to buy papers when called upon.
In some instances, the educators explained that the only way to help the students cheat better was through early exposure to the exam content.
"It means that examination materials are opened before time in order to have candidates know which questions they will be tackling," the Nation stated.
The officials discovered that the plot to cheat extended to providing accommodation to supervisors and invigilators in staff quarters.
In the cheating scheme, some principals advocated for photocopying of examination materials to cater for those who are allegedly shortsighted.
Others unknowingly disclosed that they had registered ghost candidates in their centres.
