12 KCSE Candidates Kicked Out Of Exam Rooms In Machakos Hours After Government Declared Tests Smooth

Twelve students from Kitonyini High School in Machakos County have now been suspended from continuing their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. The suspension came just hours after the government said the exams were going well.

It has been established that the learners were allegedly caught with mobile phones inside the examination rooms. The candidates have now been barred from sitting the remaining papers.

The incident has dealt a heavy blow to the affected students who were in the middle of the national exercise. It also raises fresh questions about how the phones found their way into the examination rooms. Candidates are not allowed to carry such gadgets into the rooms.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba had earlier warned students and teachers and examination officials against compromising the exams. He said anyone found culpable would face the full force of the law.

Ogamba also said the government was monitoring examination centres closely. He said detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had been assigned to work with the Kenya National Examinations Council to catch those involved in malpractice.

The Cabinet Secretary further warned centre managers and supervisors and invigilators against colluding with candidates or outsiders. He said a prohibited gadget such as a mobile phone found in an examination room would point to somebody who had dropped the ball along the way.

The council has also added serialisation and anonymisation to examination scripts. This makes it easier to trace leaked papers to specific candidates.

Earlier this month students at Nyabisase Mixed Secondary School in Kisii County also attacked a team investigating suspected malpractice.

Further details on the matter and the action to be taken against the students were still emerging at the time of reporting.

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