The 2018 national exam is probably the most guarded national exam Kenya has had. This came after Cabinet Secretary for Education, Amina Mohamed and her colleague in the Ministry of Interior, CS Fred Matiang’i vowed to deal with the menace of examination cheating and leakage in Kenya.
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) has now accused the government of militarising the national examinations in the name of curbing malpractices.
National Chairperson of the Teachers Union, Omboko Milemba said that the presence of top government officials and politicians in classrooms during examinations is unnecessary and can only serve to intimidate the candidates.
Speaking during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the body’s Nandi branch, Mr. Milemba urged the government to leave monitoring of examinations to teachers.
“Exams should not be militarized, politicized, and over-hyped. There is no need of politicians who don’t understand issues of exams and education moving to classes that they’re flagging off exams,” said the KUPPET boss.
“Exam is not a safari rally that you flag off, an exam is a professional activity which requires professionals to deal with, and that is the teachers. You even don’t know how to stand in front of children when exams are about to begin, your posture alone is a threat to passing of exams,” he added.
KUPPET National Vice Chair Julius Korir said that exams should be made cordial and peaceful, adding that the presence of armed police officers and cabinet secretaries is illogical.
The union added that they would not allow the government to deduct 1.5% of teachers income to fund President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda on housing.
Speaking on the issue of teenage pregnancies, KUPPET called out CS Amina Mohamed for blaming teachers for the rise in teenage pregnancies saying that it was an issue of poor parenting. This year a total of about 100 candidates failed to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education due to early pregnancy while others had their exams interrupted as they gave birth during the exam period which according to CS Amina, it is a national crisis.
Do you agree with KUPPET that the heavy presence of police traumatizes candidates or are you of the opinion that the police help curb examination cheating?