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Lawmakers have raised concerns over the preparedness of Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) to stop cheating during national examinations after various stakeholders claimed that the officers employed by the council to supervise examinations have been working under very stressful conditions.

The committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly also noted delays in the deployment of invigilators and supervisors given the high number of examinations being administered at the same time.

Reads the report: “Several studies done in Kenya point to the challenges that hinder the implementation of Knec measures in curbing examination malpractices in public secondary schools.

These include transportation of examination materials, lack of adequate supervisors and invigilators, inadequate security personnel, employment of supervisors and invigilators from neighbouring schools, technology for instance the phones among others.”

Knec in its response admitted that it lacks sufficient field officers, thus encountering challenges in the monitoring of examination operations in hard-to-reach areas.

Grossly underfunded

Initially Knec used to charge examination fees per candidate per subject, raising enough money for its operations but this changed in 2015 after the government gave a cumulative grant to Knec for the administration of examinations.

“This has left Knec grossly underfunded since the amount has remained the same and is not commensurate with the increase in the number of candidates,” report says.

The revelations by the committee come after various stakeholders demonstrated how Knec officials were either demotivated or fatigued when supervising examinations.

For instance, in Uasin Gishu county, education officials disclosed that particular principals had gone to their office to solicit for particular exam supervisors and invigilators to work in their schools.

In Kisumu, Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) officials disclosed that some schools have specific teachers who have supervised the same school examinations for a long period of time compromising examination management.

Reads the report: “An examiner pointed out that there were challenges in verifying the marks fed in the systems therefore emphasised the need for the background checks and ethical tests for the data entry clerks.”

The Committee was also informed that markers were subjected to inhumane accommodation in school dormitories and lengthy marking hours from 4am to 10pm resulting in fatigue and illness.

Few officers

Another respondent noted that some schools are allocated few officers despite the large number of students sitting examinations therefore, contributing to malpractices and cheating in the school set-up.

The committee was informed that delays were experienced in some areas in delivering examination materials thus demonstrating Knec’s ill-preparedness to conduct exams.