Education PS Kipsang blames parents for fueling KCSE exam cheating

Principal Secretary for Basic Education Belio Kipsang has put the spotlight on parents, accusing them of contributing to the rising cases of cheating in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.

Speaking on Thursday in Nyeri County, Kipsang stated that parents play a major role in promoting exam malpractice by providing resources to compromise exam officials and allowing their children to bring mobile phones to school.

"The biggest problem in our examinations is we adults, the parents in most cases. When you hear people saying there's a mobilisation of resources to compromise our staff, the people mobilising these resources are not our staff it is the parents," he said.

The PS also expressed frustration, questioning why parents would go to such lengths to undermine national exams, particularly when their children have had four years of preparation.

"Why are we mobilising resources to compromise our examinations if we have given our children an opportunity to study in school for four years?" Kipsang posed.

The PS also highlighted the troubling rise in the number of candidates sitting for exams in hospitals due to pregnancy-related issues.

He blamed this trend on a lack of social accountability and urged parents to take greater responsibility.

"Compared to last year, the number of students taking exams in hospitals this year has gone up. Most of these pregnancies don't happen in school; they happen at home. There must be some social hygiene in our homes," Kipsang said.

The PS stressed that teenage pregnancies should be a societal concern and that unless addressed, they would continue to harm young girls' futures.

"These teenage pregnancies are not about our young boys, it's about us adults. Unless we deal with this abuse of our girls, it's going to give us problems in the future," he said.

Combatting cheating

With over 900,000 candidates sitting for this year's KCSE exams, the Ministry of Education has introduced measures to combat cheating, such as using personalised question papers with pre-printed candidates' names.

The exams began on October 22, 2024, and are set to conclude on November 22, 2024.

In response to a recent uptick in exam leakages, the Kenyan Government also temporarily suspended access to the social media app Telegram, which officials say was being used to distribute leaked exam materials.

"Some parents are allowing their children to carry mobile phones to school, which has contributed to examination cheating," Kipsang stated, adding that several arrests have been made in connection with cheating incidents as law enforcement cracks down on individuals involved in exam irregularities.

Kipsang also addressed the issue of non-registration, warning school principals that failing to register students for exams would be treated as a serious violation with legal consequences.

He reminded principals that the government pays for all examination fees, leaving no financial reason for students to miss exams.

"There is no reason, no reason at all, why we should not register any child because the government pays for these exams," Kipsang noted.

The PS cited a recent case from Eldoret, where a school faced legal action for not registering its candidates.

He warned that similar cases would be met with legal measures, noting that non-registration violates the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Act.