KCSE cheating crisis: A comprehensive examination and solution

KCSE Cheating Crisis: A Comprehensive Examination

The role of school principals in aiding KCSE exam malpractice cannot be understated. The old adage, “Fish rots from the head,” seems fitting in describing the rampant cheating enabled by some school leaders.

Despite the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) taking measures to curb the vice, certain principals remain the weakest link.

Cheating has shifted from exam leakage by KNEC to institutional collusion where unprofessional principals, with the help of rogue teachers, facilitate exam fraud.

Methods of Principal-Aided Cheating:

1. Compromising Exam Officials: Principals bribe supervisors, invigilators, and security personnel with substantial amounts of money, ensuring they turn a blind eye to the cheating happening in exam rooms.
2. Smuggling Exam Papers: After the official opening of exam papers, some are secretly taken out of the examination rooms to undisclosed locations. Here, subject teachers, waiting in anticipation, quickly work out the answers. Copies of these answers are made and covertly smuggled back into exam rooms by compromised invigilators and supervisors, often hidden in clothing.
3. Candidates Waiting for Answers: During this process, students pass the time in the exam rooms by repeatedly flipping through their papers. They only begin writing toward the end of the exam period when the answers arrive.
4. Aggressive Candidates: In schools where cheating is rampant, students become emboldened. They show little fear of consequences and may even confront supervisors and invigilators who attempt to intervene, making it difficult for honest officials to maintain order.

Corruption in Deployment:

Some TSC officers responsible for deploying exam officials are also implicated, often influenced by the wealth and power of these corrupt principals.

This is evident when uncooperative supervisors and invigilators are swiftly replaced by those more willing to accept bribes.

Factors Promoting Exam Malpractice:

1. Desire for Promotion: Principals’ promotions are frequently based on their schools’ performance in national exams. To climb the ranks and be classified as senior or chief principals, some resort to cheating.
2. Financial Gain: Bribes from exam personnel and the monetary rewards associated with good grades serve as strong incentives.
3. Popularity and Competition: Schools and teachers strive for fame, wanting to be seen as top performers. Even if a class is weak, cheating is used to maintain high performance.
4. Awards: Titles such as Principal of the Year (POYA) or Teacher of the Year (TOYA) are often pursued at all costs, fueling the pressure to cheat.
5. Culture of Cheating: Some educators are products of academic malpractice themselves, making cheating a normalized practice for them.
6. Parent Pressure: Parents often finance cheating networks, pushing principals and teachers for better results. When performance drops, they may remove their children from genuine schools and enroll them in institutions known for cheating.

Solutions to End KCSE Cheating:

1. Reform the Role of Exam Results in Promotions:

Exam results should no longer be a primary factor in promoting principals.

Teachers’ promotions should be based on other metrics apart from exam results.

Teacher motivation should shift away from rewards tied to grades.

2. Severe Penalties for Cheating Principals:

Principals found aiding cheating should lose their leadership positions.

They should face legal consequences, including being sued and punished as per the law.

3. Punish Rogue Teachers:

Teachers involved in cheating should not only be dismissed but also deregistered by TSC, ensuring they cannot return to teaching.

4. Strengthen the Role of Examiners:

Examiners and team leaders at marking centres should flag candidates whose answers show signs of collusion. Identifying copied responses will deter future cheats.

Cancel the results of cheating candidates to send a strong message.

5. Reward Whistleblowers:

KNEC should introduce a reward system for examiners who expose cheating at marking centres. Whistleblowers should be protected, not treated as suspects.

6. Daily Swapping of Principals and Security Officers:

Principals and security personnel should be swapped daily during the exam period to close potential loopholes. This strategy should also include fixing the weaknesses at the national exam distribution centres.

The Principal’s Central Role in Cheating:

The reality is that cheating begins and ends with the principal. If a principal is determined to uphold integrity, cheating is unlikely to happen.

I know of a principal who successfully prevented cheating last year by using CCTV cameras for surveillance and issuing stern warnings to any staff attempting to assist students during exams. Such principals should be rewarded and promoted for their integrity.

Exam Malpractice: The Hydra of KCSE

Exam malpractice, particularly in KCSE, resembles the mythical Hydra of Lerna—when one head is cut off, two more grow in its place. Initially, exam leaks occurred at police stations, but when this loophole was closed, new methods of cheating emerged.

Schools began to register miraculous improvements in their mean scores, jumping from 4 to 10 in unprecedented fashion.

Recent reports suggest that some schools may have even accessed marking schemes before the exams reached sub-county storage points.

A Real Solution: Swapping Principals

Merely adjusting timetables, as KNEC has done by scheduling afternoon exams, provides only a temporary solution. To truly address exam malpractice, the focus should be on rotating centre managers (principals) during exams.

By ensuring no principal oversees exams at their own school, we can significantly reduce the chances of cheating. This strategy would prevent localized cheating, as suspected in regions like Kisii, and protect the integrity of the national examination process.

In conclusion, addressing KCSE cheating requires more than surface-level changes. A comprehensive strategy that includes severe punishments, rotating principals, and incentivizing whistleblowing is crucial to restoring the integrity of Kenya’s national exams.

As the saying goes, “The collapse of education is the collapse of a nation.” If we allow cheating to continue, we risk producing incompetent doctors, engineers, and professionals, ultimately threatening the future of the country.