Daredevil: How principals and candidates are cheating KCSE examination

Details have emerged of blatant collusion between school heads, candidates, invigilators and even police officers in new wave of cheating in the ongoing KCSE examination.

From the use of impostors, collusion in examination centers and blatant use of mobile phones, the pressure to cheat in this year's national examinations is evident.

In some cases, The Standard established, projectors are mounted in examination rooms to beam answers worked out by teachers.

And in others, candidates combine efforts to push away strict examination monitors to allow for cheating.

The Standard has established that the daring and unethical school principals are directly involved in the planning of cheating schemes, giving students access to pre-arranged help and coordinating staff inside exam centres.

So far, at least 22 individuals have been arrested for attempting to interfere with the national examination. 

They include teachers, students, hired outsiders and exam officials found sneaking materials or trying to pass information to candidates.

Investigations show that in some schools, principals are pressuring supervisors and invigilators to ignore malpractice or assist in smuggling materials into examination rooms. 

In other cases, students have attacked examination officials when they were found cheating in the examination.

So far, 19 schools are under investigation for suspected involvement in examination malpractice.

A letter by KNEC flagged Merishaw School in Kajiado for suspected examination malpractice.

The school that emerged top in the 2024 KCSE examination has been ordered to take immediate corrective action and produce a report by November 12.

KNEC observed that they had recorded serious violations during monitoring visits in the school on November 1 and 3 which amounted to malpractice.

“Your centre is hereby directed to take immediate corrective measures by reviewing its internal processes and instituting actions to ensure full compliance with all KNEC rules and regulations. Accordingly you are required to submit a written report outlining measures your centre will undertake to ensure full compliance,” the letter dated November 4 reads.

But the incident is not an isolated case as police reports shed further light into the notoriety of schools and principals in the 2025 KCSE exams.

In Migori, detectives stormed St. Anne’s Girls Secondary after a tip-off that an unauthorised person had gained access to the examination centre.

The report filed at Oruba Police Station alleged that a former teacher identified as Lazarus Okeyo Juma walked into the school compound posing as an invigilator during the conduct of Mathematics Paper 1.

He then scanned the exam paper of a candidate using a mobile phone before leaving the examination room.

The report indicates that the centre manager, who is the school principal and the supervisor noticed the irregularity and alerted the police.

Similarly, sources from the Minsitry of Education have confirmed the dismissal of Principal Mitua Girls Secondary School in Tongaren Subcounty, Angeline Kosgei, as centre manager after KNEC officers monitoring KCSE examination noted malpractice during Kiswahili Paper 3. 

Sources at KNEC revealed that candidates in the school pushed back after an examination official caught some of them in the act.

In one instance, it emerged that the students in solidarity, roughed up a KNEC examination monitor.

Also dropped together with Ms. Kosgei is the entire team of supervisors, invigilators, security officers and the Deputy Principal. 

The action was taken by the TSC sub-county director, who expressed his disappointment in the conduct of Kosgei and her team.

But speaking to The Standard, Kosgei dismissed the allegation, noting that she is still in school and has not been dismissed.

At the same time, Knec headquarters noticed the anomaly and notified security officials.

When officers arrived, all 12 mobile phones belonging to police officers and examination officials were confiscated for forensic scrutiny.

The deputy centre manager and one invigilator were also arrested and detained for interrogation on allegation of aiding malpractice.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba revealed 22 people have been arrested by Friday last week, and three schools had been issued warning letters as the first week of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations comes to a close amid a heightened multi-agency crackdown on cheating.

“The Government maintains a policy of zero tolerance… appropriate sanctions including result cancellation and possible centre de-registration will be enforced.” the CS said.

He has warned that stern action will be taken against individuals involved in malpractice.

“This is a very serious matter, it is not a village matter as many might take it but an international matter that could deny one entry to international institutions of higher learning if their credentials are in doubt,” Ogamba said.

In a statement issued on Friday, the CS revealed that the cases are from three regions.

“Nineteen isolated cases of suspected malpractice have been formally recorded across Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Eastern regions,” he said.

Ogamba revealed that centre managers, invigilators and supervisors implicated in malpractice have already been replaced at the affected centres, while mobile phones and photocopied materials believed to be aiding cheating have been seized.

“In every instance, decisive action has been taken: replacement of Centre Managers, Supervisors, and Invigilators; arrest and prosecution of over 22 individuals by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI); seizure of mobile phones and photocopied materials,” he said.

Three schools involved in malpractice have been served with formal KNEC warning letters and are required to file compliance reports by Monday, November 12. 

Another case was recorded in Kisumu County, where a student was arrested for possession of a mobile phone while writing their Mathematics Paper 2 exam.

The incident recorded at Katito Police Station reveals that a supervisor at Magunga Secondary School noticed a mobile phone in routine invigilation, but when he attempted to retrieve it, the student bit the supervisor and dashed out of the examination room.

He, however, returned 10 minutes later and did not have the phone prompting the supervisor to call security officers.

Both incidents form part of a growing number of cases under investigation, as authorities warn that schools, teachers and candidates involved in malpractice will face criminal charges.

Kenya National Examination Council has indicated that the cases of examination malpractice vary from collusion, use of phones and unauthorised materials in examination centres, and impersonation of private candidates.

KNEC chief executive David Njengere on Tuesday revealed that the cases of impersonation were recorded in Nairobi and Wajir Counties.