Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) chairman, Prof John Onsati assured Kenyans that the examination has not leaked. ”The examination is intact. We are here to advice all the examination centre managers and security personnel deployed to the centres to ensure that all papers are secure,” Prof Onsati said in Mombasa today.
He led senior government officials who included Coast Regional Coordinator, John Elungata and Mombasa County Commissioner, Mr Gilbert Kitiyo in supervising the opening and distribution of examination material at the Mombasa DCC container before monitoring the administration of day one papers at various centres.
He further called on the centre managers to ensure all Coivd-19 Health protocols as per Ministry of Health directives are adhered to. These include wearing of face masks and enhanced spacing between candidates in the examination room. He urged centre managers to take caution as Kenya enters into the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
”We are conscious of what environment our children are in,” he said. Educationists said that the tests have been moderated to factor in the time learners lost due to closure of schools following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof Onsati further directed security officers manning the examination centres to ensure that they cooperate fully to ensure safety of all candidates and examination material during the period the examination will be underway. Some one million primary school children are sitting KCPE tests amid safety and logistical concerns as the third wave of Covid-19 sweeps the country.
On his part, Elungata reiterated the need to ensure that health protocols are adhered to in order to avoid making the examination centres super spreaders for the deadly virus. Education CS George Magoha warned that they were aware of plans to cheat through what he termed an ‘advanced cheating scheme of impersonation.’
“We are aware that as we plan here for effective administration of exams to protect credibility of the tests, they are busy planning how to cheat,” said Magoha. The CS also said the ministry has discovered that some candidates were planning to write answers on the masks. “We know some of you are planning to use masks to cheat. Do not make such an attempt because we shall check you up and if we catch you it’s up to you,” said Magoha then.