End exam malpractices; they are giving Kenya a bad name

An Administration Police officer searches KCSE candidates. [File, Standard]

It is becoming clear that examination malpractices, especially cheating, happen five times more in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) than in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). This was confirmed in a quick survey conducted by PhD students in Educational Planning and Administration at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.

The survey further revealed that out of every 10 secondary school teachers who are not engaged in the management and supervision of national examinations, seven are normally somewhere conspiring with rogue examination officials to aid learners in cheating. It should be remembered that by 2013, Kenya had lost the credibility of the quality of results produced through our examination system. Kenyans who pursued further education or even had assignments in academics in our neighbouring countries needed an entry examination/test just to assess the level of quality.

When a country reaches such levels of doubt and suspicion by peers in education, its morals usually have gone to the dogs. It means our country's moral fibre has loosened greatly. When this was discovered, the government quickly made interventions that have gone a long way in rejuvenating hope.

This informs the journey of reforms in the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) which, since its formation and subsequent reviews under the Knec Act No. 29 of 2012, outlines her mandate as setting and maintaining examinations standards, conducting technical and other national examinations within Kenya at basic and tertiary levels and awarding certificates or diplomas to candidates in such examinations. Further, it confirms the authenticity of certificates or diplomas issued by the council upon request by the government, public institutions, learning institutions, employers and other interested parties.

This has been the core focus of the council since the bell calling for reforms rang. When Prof George Magoha took over as the chairman of Knec and Dr Fred Matiang'i became the Education CS, a number of policy changes were introduced that have helped to redeem the image of our examinations.

Although many players in the sector were not comfortable with the changes, they came to appreciate that a lot of gains have been made through them. The involvement of government officials, including the President, demonstrated that the management of examinations was not a single ministry affair, but a concern of all players in governance.

The reforms include the introduction of containers for the safety of examinations, increasing the number of officers managing the exams, the introduction of the double collection of examination papers to curb early exposure which was the cause of cheating in the past, the new packaging system of examination papers and an enhanced reporting system of occurrences during the examinations' period and the quick response mechanisms put in place, were intended to minimise irregularities in general.

The council also seems to be addressing the idleness aspect of secondary school teachers by involving them in the management of the exams and ensuring there is no room for conspiracy. The same happens with the continued vigilance of social media platforms to ensure mobile gadgets are not used to transmit content meant for examination purposes. We have, however, noted that there are a few rogue teachers who still do not appreciate the gains that have so far been made to secure the integrity of our examinations.

It will be a big shame to the profession if it turns out to be true that senior members of our teaching fraternity have been involved in aiding cheating in the ongoing KCSE examinations. The competencies that we teach; knowledge, skills and attitudes/behaviour hold the backbone of the output. Behaviour is instilled by teaching morals and values, which is an integral part of the curriculum. We cannot teach morals and values to learners if we are immoral.

It therefore goes without saying that teachers must lead by example. So, even as the security agencies continue to conduct investigations, we urge our members to desist from participating in examination malpractices.

Management of the administration of examinations consumes over half of the entire Knec budget. What if we practised moral values and the learners followed suit? Wouldn't we be able to save this cost and use the money to employ more teachers or increase capitation in order to reduce the burden on parents? We should begin thinking about how we can be trusted and how we can trust ourselves with our examinations.