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The Ministry of Education is working closely with cyber crime experts to track individuals who will use mobile phones to engage in exam malpractices, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has said.
Machogu said the experts will help them intercept people who will participate in violating the integrity of national examinations.
“The experts will help them in monitoring social media trends to enable them to get people who share messages involving national exams,” he said.
“The experts have so far managed to get two suspects who have been arrested in connection to alleged exam leakage.”
The suspects are said to be university students.
The national exams include the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment, Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
“I assure Kenyans all exam papers are intact. No paper has either been leaked or exposed hence no one should lie to anyone that they have access to exam questions,” he said.
The CS spoke at Homa Bay High School when he met exam centre managers from Migori and Homa Bay.
He warned head teachers and parents against falling into the traps of conmen and women who sell fake exam papers.
He said they will be keen on examination officers who will expose other exam papers which are done after the first ones.
“Headteachers who collude with parents to solicit money for buying fake exam papers will be arrested. We’ll take legal action against them because they are setting up candidates to fail,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Education, at least 3.4million candidates will sit the national examinations. That includes 884,263 KCSE candidates.
Some of the stakeholders are the Interior and Coordination and ICT and Digital Economy ministries led by Kithure Kindiki and Eliud Owalo.
“TSC is also involved in the process. All other CSs will be involved in the national exercise when the time comes,” the CS said.
Heads of security officers have been trained on how to handle the exams.
They will cascade the information to their juniors who will be directly involved at examination centres.
Machogu said security officers will be required to sign a form every time an exam paper is opened.
Police at exam centres will also be required to receive and record any information given to them by exam centre managers.
“They will be required to indicate the time each paper will be opened. Action must be taken against people who open papers before time,” he said.
Basic Education PS Julius Jwan, Knec chief executive officer David Ngeng'ere, Homa Bay county commissioner Moses Lilan and Homa Bay county education director Eunice Khaemba were present.
Jwan said the government is addressing delayed capitation funds.
“We’re holding discussions with Education PS nominee Belio Kipsang for government to send capitation to schools every month,” he said.
Ngeng'ere said Knec will cooperate with the Ministry of Education to ensure all its programmes become successful.
“We have rules which will ensure all exams papers are protected to the end,” he said.
Edited by DK