State Department for Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS), John Ololtuaa, has warned against malpractices in the Grade Six and Grade Nine National Assessments Exam, which kicked off this morning.

Speaking today, when he presided over the opening of the examination papers container in Mbita, Homa Bay County, the PS said adequate measures had been put in place to safeguard the integrity of the exams.

He said the government expected the Kenya Primary School Examination Assessment (KPSEA) and the Kenya Junior School Examination Assessment (KJSEA) to progress without any hitches.

The PS said a total of 1,380,463 candidates were registered for KPSEA, while KJSEA has 1,206,028 candidates countrywide.

He told teachers and other personnel manning the examination to ensure the highest standards of integrity were upheld.

The PS noted that the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) had set the examination rules, which must be adhered to by candidates, teachers and other personnel manning the examinations.

He said punitive legal measures will be taken against anybody who commits any irregularities.

“The examinations must be handled with the sanctity they deserve. Cheating is a serious offence, and perpetrators will suffer punitive legal measures,” Ololtuaa said.

The PS, who was accompanied by Homa Bay County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi and other senior government officials, said all arrangements had been put in place to ensure the examinations reach designated centres at the right time.

KPSEA is expected to end, Wednesday, this week, while KJSEA will end this Friday.

Ololtuaa, who also supervised the commencement of the exams at Mbita Point International School-ICPE, said a total of 342,005 field officers and teachers had been deployed to man the examinations countrywide.

“We have received support from our sister departments in the government to ensure this exercise is smooth. The Ministry of Interior has given us adequate security to ensure the exercise takes place efficiently, and TSC has deployed the teachers who are manning the exams,” he added.

The PS exuded confidence that all measures had been put in place to ensure the exams took place without hitches.

“We are prepared, and government officials have been deployed to monitor the exams in various parts of the country. Let Kenyans have confidence that the examination will be undertaken successfully,” the PS said.

He said 50,873 examiners had been recruited to mark the exams immediately after completion,” he added.

Mwiwawi said adequate security personnel had been deployed to ensure security during the exams.

“Although this is an assessment rather than a series of exams, we have deployed adequate security to ensure it takes place without any security hitches.” Mwiwawi said.

He told parents to keep their children away from fishing in the lake during the exam period.

“I know this is a fishing community, but let parents ensure their children are off the lake during the exams,” Mwiwawi said.

At Mbita Point International School, the Institution Head, Samuel MC’Miugo, said his candidates started the exams well without any challenges.

“We have begun well. No hitches have been experienced,” he reported.

By Davis Langat