The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has issued rules that will be used during the administration of the national examinations that will be done next month.
Candidates and examination administrators found to be violating the rules will face severe disciplinary consequences.
KNEC is reported to have revealed the rules in a meeting held with head examiners of the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
According to KNEC Chief Executive Officer Dr David Njengere, this academic year is an exception due to many up to three national examinations being done this year (KCPE, KPSEA, and KCSE).
The KNEC CEO called in stakeholders of education to share their ideas and experiences on how to improve the efficacy and efficiency of marking the national examinations. Candidates are also not allowed any extra time to do their KCPE and KCSE examinations.
Besides, candidates are also not allowed to make unnecessary movements during examinations without special permission from the supervisors.
The Council also recommended against allowing any type of communication between candidates and strangers within or beyond the school perimeter.
“No communication whatsoever in whatever manner between candidates or with outsiders will be allowed during the examination,” read part of the rules.
According to the examiner, any sort of misconduct during examinations would be interpreted as an attempt to cheat.
Candidates who will be involved in any type of misbehaviour or produce a disturbance within or close to the examination will be penalized.
In addition, candidates are admonished against revealing their question responses to other students within the examination rooms.
Candidates are instructed to leave a written sheet of paper or their answers in a position where another candidate could read them.
“You should not offer or receive unfair aid, or seek to do so, whether by copying or otherwise, and your work should not contain evidence of such assistance,” read the rules.
Further, according to the guidelines, candidates are not allowed to be in possession or near the examination room any book, notes, papers, or other materials other than the right question papers and materials expressly authorized by KNEC.
The Examiner warned against accessing examination materials and verbally or in writing disclosing their contents to an unauthorized party.
This offence is punishable by a fine of not more than Kshs. 2 million, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both.
Another warning that KNEC issued was against impersonation and urged individuals who are planning to take examinations on behalf of students that if the found imposter found is a student, he or she will be barred from taking a test administered by or on behalf of KNEC.
The perpetrator will be subject to imprisonment for up to two years or be fined up to Kshs. 2 million shillings or both.
If a candidate commits an assessment irregularity in any examination, the entire subject’s scores will be voided.
Besides, if widespread irregularities are found at any assessment centre, the entire centre’s assessment results will be voided.
KNEC cautioned that it will be illegal for any individual other than the authorized officers to possess or use a mobile phone in the examination centres.
Candidates, supervisors, invigilators and principals are prohibited from bringing phones or other electronic devices into examination rooms.
Primary Schools with a combined candidate pool of thirty (30) or more for both KCPE and KPSEA examinations will be allowed to administer examinations within their premises.
KNEC revealed that schools with less than thirty (30) candidates and more than five (5) kilometres from the nearest test centre will request special permission from KNEC through the Sub-County Director of Education.
In the past week, centre managers, supervisors and invigilators who will spearhead the process were identified, nominated and vetted in the past week.
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Dr Nancy Macharia implored directors to stick to a ratio of one invigilator for every 20 students and one supervisor for every 200 candidates.
In the administration of KPSEA examinations, no supervisor will be hired for hosted KPSEA centres except KPSEA-only centers.
“Deploy invigilators to hosted and KPSEA centres based on the number of candidates in the examination centre,” said Dr Nancy Macharia.