15 students in court for cheating in exams

Fifteen Form Four candidates in Mombasa will be today be arraigned in court after they were allegedly arrested with examination materials.

According to Changamwe Police Boss Joseph Muthee several mobile phones were recovered from the students.

The 15 candidates from a private school in Mombasa are said to have been found with the exam papers and mobile phones in the exam hall.

This comes even as the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) raised concern that exam cheating this year has gone a notch higher, due to advancement in technology.

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi had earlier warned candidates against engaging in any examination irregularities.

Kaimenyi warned that stern action will be taken against those found engaging in any form of exam malpractices saying that the Ministry of Education is aimed at ensuring credibility in examinations.

The education CS also requested exam supervisors and invigilators to create a conducive environment for the candidates throughout the exams period.

KNEC on the hand had also warned candidates and their parents from buying fake exam papers that are reportedly in circulation.

KNEC CEO Joseph Kivilu said the council will intercept fake papers and take legal action against individuals found circulating and selling them.

Exam cheating has been reported severally over the years.

Last year, KNEC raised alarm over fake papers allegedly being sold by university and college students for between Ksh 50,000 and Ksh 200,000 a set.

Last week five students in Kiambu County were arrested after they were found with materials that suggested that they were cheating in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE).

The five, three girls and two boys, from Hope Secondary School in Ondiri were found with folded papers hidden in their private parts when Biology Paper One exam was going on.

This happened when one of the students was found using the leaked paper in the exam prompting invigilators to conduct a quick search in order to tame the vice. The other four were discovered after the search.

The supervisor of the examination centre Michael Kioko said that the five were consequently stopped from proceeding with the exams.

Confirming the incident, Kikuyu OCPD Mutune Maweu had said that cases of cheating were common among students over the years stating that this was the first incident in this year’s exams.

He said that cheating in the national exam was a crime and punishable by law.

Maweu called on teachers and school heads to counsel their candidates against the offence as it also brings a bad reputation to the entire school and on the County.