KNEC attempts to reduce cheating by personalizing KCSE papers.
As part of increased efforts to prevent cheating, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) will incorporate personal information about each candidate in the KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) papers this year.
The name, index number, and school of the candidate for whom each paper is meant will be included.
Therefore, in contrast to before, KNEC will not be providing more question papers. Question papers can no longer be photocopied.
Personalization, according to KNEC CEO David Njengere, will end examination misconduct like impersonation, whose frequency is still a cause for concern.
Njengere continued, saying that rather than punishing entire schools or testing facilities, the personalization will assist in identifying the cheaters.
“To prevent the examiners from identifying the candidates during marking, the section containing the candidates’ details will [be] torn off and packed separately at the end of each paper,” Njengere stated.
In contrast to previous years, when KNEC permitted this for candidates it referred to as “under-protesting,” the customization will also prevent candidates from sitting for subjects they did not register for.
Individual accountability
As a result, unregistered candidates won’t be able to take the tests because KNEC won’t have any more question papers.
We are proposing to customize the test sheets so that every applicant will have their information pre-printed. This implies that if there are any malpractices, we would question the candidate about why they permitted someone else to use their paper, Njengere stated.
In contrast to previous years, when they took examinations at the sub-counties, Njengere stated that private applicants will henceforth take theory papers at the county headquarters.
The CEO noted that in order to improve double collection capacity and stop early exposure, 41 more containers had been added to exam collection centers.
Additionally, he clarified that KNEC will package exam papers for morning and afternoon sessions in different cartons, with the afternoon papers still sealed at the time of initial collection.
Introduced in 2023, the practice of collecting papers twice a day attempts to prevent any early access to the exams.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) will start on October 28 and run through November 20, while the Kenya Common School Examination (KCSE) will start on October 22 and end on November 22.
Exams for the Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment (KILEA) are scheduled for October 28, 2024, through October 31, 2024.
Compared to the 903,264 applicants that took the exam in 2023, a total of 965,501 candidates have enrolled for the KCSE exam, representing a 6.89% increase in candidacy.
The number of candidates registered for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) has also increased to 1,313,913, a 2.38 percent increase from the 1,283,339 applicants who were submitted in 2023.
As a result, 2,279,397 candidates nationwide will get evaluations and the National Examination from KNEC.
KNEC attempts to reduce cheating by personalizing KCSE papers.
