Storm after exam results are cancelled

One of Kenya’s high-end schools that administers international curriculum is in the eye of a storm after a London based examination body cancelled test results of all students in the 2023/2024 academic year.

Students at the Light International School who sat for their International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary Levels (AS) and Cambridge International Advanced Levels (A Levels) had all their results cancelled under circumstances that have left tongues wagging in the education sector.

The London based Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) that administers the examinations is yet to release reasons for the cancellation, though speculation is rife that it may have been as a result of mass cheating and other irregularities.

By last evening, the school had not responded to our enquiries over claims that the examinations may have been cancelled as a result of massive cheating by the students.

Consequently, besides the school lodging an appeal against the decision, it has also offered to enroll the affected students to retake a fresh examination that is scheduled between October and November 2024.

“We have initiated the appeal process and have engaged two legal teams in Kenya and the United Kingdom. The formal appeal was lodged on August 9, 2024 and we anticipate a response from Cambridge within 28 days from that date,” the school says in a memo to all parents.

Yesterday, efforts to reach the management for comment did not bare fruit as the secretary maintained that all the senior officials were holed up in a a crisis meeting. The management had not also responded to our email enquiring about the cancellation.