Knec should be proactive to curb examination leaks

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams started last week despite opposition from different quarters and threats by teachers to boycott its administration.

The exams come barely three weeks after teachers returned to work following a month-long strike that paralysed learning in public schools.

It is also taking place at a time a majority of teachers have not received their September salary. Their suffering cannot be underestimated.

It should be noted that though learning was only paralysed for a month in the rest of the country, this has not been the case with North Eastern Kenya where no meaningful learning has ever taken place for the whole of this year. In fact, most schools there have remained deserted or shut down.

Learning was paralysed due to the insecurity crisis that forced most non-local teachers to flee the region.

As a result, leaders in the region petitioned the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and its parent ministry to postpone the administration of this year’s KCSE in North Eastern. But Knec declined and vowed to continue with the exams as scheduled.

As things stand now, the fate of students in North Eastern lies with their God who I believe can miraculously see them through the exams despite their inadequate preparation.

I leave it to the education experts to decide whether it is logical to force a section of students to do exams for which they are ill prepared.

That aside. Since KCSE exams began a week ago, there have been allegation of widespread exam malpractices. The situation has been so grave, to the extent that you find exam material leaked on social media, mainly whatsup, a day or two before the exam day.

Knec officials, as has been the norm, are always quick to rubbish these claims as mere allegations. They argue that these are people out to taint the good image of the agency.

One wonders who is to be held responsible. Is it the student who gets the exam leak on his phone via social media platform or the individual at the agency who sells the materials to the highest bidder?

Knec’s actions in combating exam leaks shouldn’t be reactionary but preventive. It’s time we face the reality. A paper cannot be in the public domain a week or some days before its due date. Somebody in authority must take full responsibility.

When the current CEO Joseph Mbithi Kivilu was appointed early this year, he vowed to curb exam leaks. We still hope that he keeps his word.

It’s always sad to see the results of an entire school cancelled as happened last year in some schools. It has a ripple effect as parents are forced to dig deep into their pockets to ensure their children repeat. You can imagine what strain it would have on school facilities if more than 200 students repeat due to exam cancellation.

We can no longer allow Knec to operate in scattered offices across the city. That in itself exposes all the exams administered by Knec to serious risks. It also puts the integrity of exams into question. All its operations must therefore be brought under one roof.

Knec should also vet all its employees to weed out the ones engaged in the business of exam leaks.