Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha on Tuesday, March 30, chased away National Youth Service (NYS) officers from the Kenya National Exam Council (KNEC) exam store in Machakos County.
CS Magoha was shocked when he arrived to officiate the opening of the exam container in Machakos only to find NYS servicemen and women waiting to receive the exam papers.
Magoha ordered that the NYS return to their institution - and said that the officers should not be involved in monitoring the exam, despite being called to augment the police officers.
The Education CS insisted that the police officers were enough to provide security, leaving the NYS servicemen and women stranded.
“As I speak to you, there are centres in the Northern part of this country where the second paper was tampered with. This emphasises the need to have at least two police officers to ensure that one of the policemen is constantly with the examinations. Since I have been assured that police officers are there, we must have a minimum of at least two police officers per centre,” he spoke.
“In order to continue to reaffirm this control, then we must remain vigilant. We are aware that people are also trying to peddle fake papers. We are also aware that there are attempts by some candidates to get other people to sit the examinations on their behalf,” the CS added.
Magoha also urged examination monitors to actively supervise the examinations, emphasising that the government is spending loads of money to enhance the integrity of the exams.
“It is not your duty just to be present in the school, you better check and confirm. Nobody should have access to the examination halls including the centre managers unless there's a very good reason,” he said.
The CS warned that in case anyone successfully manages to cheat, the exam markers will be able to catch up with them during the marking stage.
KCSE exams commenced on Friday, March 26, and will end on Wednesday, April 21.
At the end of April, the Ministry of Education plans to analyse the Covid-19 situation and ascertain whether students will resume classes or not.
Uhuru, on Friday, March 26, suspended all physical activities in schools until further notice. The Head of State cautioned that the virus may flatten within 60 days, thus causing speculation on reopening dates and the academic calendar.
