We thought Dr. Matiang’i had done away with cheating but seems we were so wrong.
A new tactic of Exam cheating has emerged this time not by schools seeking to shine in the eyes of Kenyans.
The fraud, has been conspired by poor-performing students and executed in cyber cafes with the help of techies, targets gullible and unsuspecting parents.
This is how it goes: If an A student scores a poor grade than expected they do to the cyber, gets the report card scanned then edited in a vector graphics-editing software such as CorelDRAW.
With this kind of software one is able to chjange their grades without interfering with key credibility features such as school rubber stamps and teachers’ signatures.
From a D- (minus) awarded by teachers, one could can easily go home with a shining B+ (plus), thanks to technology.
The aim of forging grades is to look good in the eyes of parents and deceive them into believing that their investments are worthwhile.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed on Wednesday blew the lid off the fraud after the ministry established that some students had altered their second term grades.
She added sayingb that many such cases, have been reported to field officers in counties.
CS Mohamed now wants parents to confirm their children’s marks with teachers.
She said she regretted that students in secondary schools are determined to cheat “at all costs”.
She further added saying that, “We must discourage this practice at all cost,”
Ms Mohamed was speaking while at Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi.
She advised students to be proud of the marks they score in schools and work hard improve their grades.
In addition she said, “We do not want a scenario where a student scores ‘A’ but perform poorly at higher level than those who score a ‘B’,” she told a stakeholders’ workshop to sensitise universities and technical and vocational training institutes on new qualification framework policy.
The CS said the government will step up crackdown on fraudsters with fake academic certificates by setting up a database of all graduates in the country.
Already, the government has announced tough measures to deal with exam cheats this year.
This year, the focus will shift on how to stop students from using mobile phone to access exam materials.
The ministry is also keen to rein in collusion, which involves candidates producing identical responses in tests.
In most cases, the national exams council says, they are assisted by teachers to do so.
The government has also teamed up with National Intelligence Service, the Teachers Service Commission , and the Ministry of ICT to stop cheats.
This comes weeks after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) interdicted 12 teachers in West Pokot County over exam cheating.
Among them were former principals of two schools where last year’s KCSE results were cancelled by the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec), which cited cheating. A letter seen by Nation indicates that former Ortum Boys principal Jonathan Siwanyang, who had been transferred to Chewoyet Boys, also received his interdiction letter.
Also affected is former St. Cecilia Chepareria Girls principal Mary Ruto, who had been moved to St. Josephs Girls in Kitale.