Ministry Of Education changes procedure of Collecting National Examinations
For the 2023 KCSE and KCPE applicants, the government has modified the procedure for collecting national test papers.
Exam papers will now be collected twice daily rather than just once, as CS Education Director Ezekiel Machogu announced on Wednesday.
As a result, the morning paper that needs to be completed will be collected at various bins across the nation.
The afternoon will thereafter see the collection of the afternoon newspaper.
In order to prevent cheating, Machogu stated, “this is to minimise the chances of the papers being exposed to students before they sit for it.”
He delivered a speech in the Sheikh Zayed Hall in Mombasa during the 46th Kessha annual national convention.
This comes after the chairman of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, Indimuli Kahi, asked the Kenya National exam Council to assure principals that exam papers will not be leaked in 2023.
“That is a question that our country must jointly address. Why do we observe copies of examination papers floating around on smartphones before the applicants take the exam? Kahi stated.
“Where is the origin of this paper? If it came from us, then we are responsible. Since we have previously been accused of doing the same,” he remarked.
Kahi claimed he visited Swaziland to observe how the nation’s exams are conducted there and was simultaneously amazed and challenged by what he witnessed.
The principals in Swaziland are handed a full week’s worth of papers, which they keep in possession, he said.
Can something like this happen in Kenya? As Kenyans, we need to have answers to these questions.
Primary Education However, Belio Kipsang asserted that this is a problem of trust.
Ministry Of Education changes procedure of Collecting National Examinations
Because of the lack of confidence in the country, in Kipsang’s opinion, it is challenging to imitate countries like Swaziland.
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The PS asserted, “We can even give a full month’s papers if we address the trust deficit.”
Although he admitted that this is increasingly improving, he said the lack of trust is also what leads to students going on rampages and destroying schools.
Kipsang stated that it is depressing to learn that professors and pupils must have armed security agents behind them just during national exams when it comes to evaluation.
In order to build a relationship of trust with the kids, he claimed that principals must be able to address the issues that young people face.
What exactly have we done to gain the pupils’ trust? Why enter an operating room without armed security when doctors can? Why do attorneys attend court without armed police officers? Why does it happen exclusively during student assessments? Kipsang sat down.
Additionally, he mentioned that this only occurs during the national exams.
Nothing of the type was observed during the internal exams conducted at the institution, he claimed.
Indimuli Kahi, chairwoman of Kessha, also stated that the mechanism for evaluating pupils has to be changed because it disadvantages them.
He pointed out that there are currently six required topics for grades, including maths, English, Swahili, two sciences, and a humanities course.
There used to be just four required topics that went towards a student’s grade.
He pointed out that, for instance, English grammar and literature are combined today although they were previously separated.
According to Kahi, some pupils have good grammar but struggle to analyse literature.
“However, despite having good English grammar, this student did poorly in literature, which prevented them from passing the medicine class. Are we treating this student fairly? Kahi asked.
