Full press statement on status of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, KCSE, examination administration; Which entered day 4 today:
HUNT FOR KCSE EARLY EXPOSURE MASTERMINDS
Today marks the fourth day of (the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Exams) KCSE 2018 involving 664,550 candidates countrywide. I am happy to announce that the level of precision in the administration of this examination has been remarkable.
We have, for instance, managed to strictly comply with the daily 6am schedule of distributing all examination material from Exams Council (The Kenya National Examinations Council, KNEC) containers to all Examination Centres.
We haven’t recorded a single case where any examination has been leaked since the examination started keeping true to our promise to deliver free and fair results. All the papers have been delivered to every centre with all the unique Exams Council (KNEC) security features intact.
For this commendable delivery so far, I thank all the Exams Council and (Teachers Service Commission) TSC Kenya personnel who have put aside their personal and official demands to ensure the examination process is flawless.
Once again, I thank all my Cabinet colleagues, Chief Administrative Secretaries and Principal Secretaries who – like was the case during, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, KCPE 2018 examinations have joined Education Ministry, the Kenya National Examinations Council, the Teachers Service Commission and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in all corners of the country to monitor and supervise the KCSE Exams.
However, having sealed all the loopholes of leaking examinations, a few unscrupulous people have over the last three years devised new criminal tricks of opening examination packages a few minutes before the start time, in what we call “early exposure.”
The target of these unethical people is the second paper of the day. Their game-plan is to smuggle all or some of the examination questions, take them to unauthorized persons to the tackle the questions and smuggle the “answers” back into the examination rooms.
This morning, I wish to announce that some of the masterminds of this early exposure scheme have been arrested following a manhunt staged by a combined team of officers under the Multi-Sectoral Team of government experts of the Interior Ministry, KNEC, TSC and Education Ministry.
An early exposure ring of 15 people was arrested in Kisii as they prepared to answer questions from a photocopied examination paper with the intention of smuggling responses to candidates at the Monianku secondary school in Kisii. The case is now with the Judiciary (Courts).
As a result of the case in Monianku Secondary, the Chief Executive officer, CEO, of the Teachers Service Commission, TSC, Dr. Nancy Macharia has ordered disciplinary action against the administration of the school.
Additionally, four people have been arrested and arraigned in Court after they were caught in a classroom with fake examination pre-prepared notes in Kakamega.
More fundamentally, I am this morning happy to announce that two of the greatest masterminds of the “early exposure” ring are now in the custody of the police and KNEC. The two were hunted down last evening after a long and meticulous investigative process.
These two suspects who are expected in Court later today must serve to show that existing stringent examination security measures will net all cheats wherever they hide. We will leave absolutely nothing to chance. Not when the future of our children is in jeopardy.
We expect these suspects to face the full force of the law in a manner that will send a warning to evil-minded people that their efforts will come to naught. We will not compromise on anyone intent on messing up the lives of our innocent children and our collective future.
Full presser in pdf: CS AMINA-KCSE BRIEFS, DAY 4
Dr. Amina Mohammed (Cabinet Secretary to the Education Ministry)