We wont stop KCSE exams-KNEC

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has admitted to presence of irregularities in the ongoing KCSE exam saying they have launched investigations to determine the source.

KNEC CEO Dr Joseph Kivilu who spoke after hours of crisis meeting with the Ministry of Education top officials says culprits who will not be caught during the examination administration will not escape the trained eyes of the examiners.

This comes even as pressure continued to mount against KNEC and the ministry to take responsibility over rampant cases of exam leakage.

After persistent and precise leakage of examination papers hours and days before administration of actual KCSE exams, and after long silence over the matter, KNEC held a crisis meeting at the Ministry of Education headquarters chaired by Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi.

Hours later KNEC officials appeared on their own, taking cognizance over leaked examination papers.

“The council has obtained copies of the alleged leaked papers whose pages were circulating in the social media and even on local tv channels this week and is investigating the possible sources of the papers,” said Kivilu.

While various stakeholders have called for calling off of the national exam, the council will not be doing so.

Instead KNEC is now focusing at netting candidates who might have used leaked materials or undergone prior coaching for the exam.

In regards to physics practical paper that was leaked on Thursday before being administered on Friday, KNEC CEO is confident that the leakage had no significant impact.

“It is a practical exam and so if we see any pattern in the figures in the answer sheets we will take action. But even I could not read clearly what was on the papers,” said Kivilu.

The council continues to insist that its examination papers distribution process is tamper proof and secure but can’t rule out a systemic failure.

“We can’t rule out any possibility of a system cracking, like now the technology is a challenge. We never used to have whatsapp,” defended Kivilu.

So far, 14 teachers, 6 university students and five KCSE candidates have been arrested with exam related materials while 25 candidates were caught were caught with questions for different exam papers.

Meanwhile the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has confirmed that union dues have not been remitted to teachers unions KNUT and KUPPET from teacher’s salaries of the month of October.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion says his members had confirmed that their payslips showed no deductions, a situation that TSC has attributed to technical error in their payroll system that will be addressed soon.