KUPPET Exposes KNEC’s Failure that Led to KCSE Massive Cheating
The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education in Kenya conducted a public hearing in Machakos County to investigate alleged cheating in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) results.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary School Teachers (KUPPET) Machakos branch presented an explosive report claiming massive exam cheating and a lack of credibility in the examination process by the Ministry of Education and the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC).
KUPPET alleges that KNEC has failed to manage examinations effectively in the country and has left its work to the Ministry of Education and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
KUPPET’s report identifies several cases of abnormal improvement curves in schools’ KCSE results. Rigoko Secondary School, for example, had a mean score of 5.728 in 2021 but jumped to 9.0 in 2022, an exam that was sat for only a few months later, and all students in the school transitioned to university.
St. Thomas Moore Riangombe Secondary School had a mean score of 3.7 in the 2021 KCSE and jumped to 7.1 in the 2022 national examination.
Similarly, the report states that an analysis of results of some schools with stellar performance did not reflect a natural curve, such as Nyambaria Boys High School, which was the top school nationally in 2022.
The report also alleges that exam papers leaked before they reached examination containers, and examination materials were circulating online. KNEC failed in its mandate, according to KUPPET.
In contrast, the Ministry of Education gave the examination a clean bill of health with not a single case of cheating being reported, unlike in previous years. The Education Committee believes that the KCSE certificate has been placed too highly, contributing to the cheating menace.
Julius Meli, chair of the Education Committee, notes that some of those entrusted with exam management do not do their jobs as they should. The committee continues its fact-finding mission with Nyamira and Mombasa Counties being their next stops.
KUPPET Exposes KNEC’s Failure that Led to KCSE Massive Cheating
