To end exam cheating, we must understand purpose of education

Kakamega Hill School Class Eight candidates during their KCPE Mathematics paper on March 7, 2022. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Columnist Antoney Luvinzu attributed cheating in national examinations to what he considered a traditional assessment model. In an article last week, Luvinzu argued that examination cheating can be ended when the country adopts what he called authentic assessment model. In simplified terms, the traditional assessment model measures students’ knowledge of the content. Authentic assessment, on the other hand, is said to measure students’ ability to apply knowledge of the content in simulated or real-life situations.

Mr Luvinzu has simplified the problem of examination cheating. The kind of cheating the government has been battling goes beyond the nature of assessment we see in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams and has little to do with the so-called traditional assessment model. One aspect of examination cheating is prior access to the papers by unauthorised people who seek to assist candidates. Prior access to examinations before the stipulated time is facilitated by adults, who do not care what model of assessment it is.