Leaked information reveals worrying details on KCSE results

New information released by examiners have now raised worries over the quality of the KCSE results released by Education CS Fred Matiangi on Wednesday.

The Nation on Thursday quoted unauthorised sources who were privy to the marking process supervised by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

The examiners stated that they had to work for long hours which in some instances meant that they marked the exam under a lot of pressure and fatigue.

KNEC had instituted tough measures to guarantee credible results but the examiners have now indicated that some of them were not followed.

For instance, marking time was supposed to start at 7am and end at 7pm and in instances where it was supposed to work overtime, the chief examiners were required to coordinate with KNEC to allow such an extension.

One English teacher revealed that they marked the exam until late last Saturday.

“We used to mark the examination papers up to 10pm and wake up by 5am so that by 6am, we are already back into marking centres to continue with the job.”

“Doing the marking at a record time is okay but the fear is that we are compromising quality since we have to hurry and do it under a lot of pressure to beat the deadline and no one wants to lose their job,” the teacher revealed.

Another teacher stated that most teachers who were marking last weekend remained up until 1am and were only given a 30-minute break to take tea and an hour for lunch.

The examinations body was rushing to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive after he promised that the 2017 KCSE results would be released before Christmas.

Despite the concerns of verification, KNEC Chairman Prof George Magoha on Wednesday insisted that marking was hurriedly done, insisting it was carried out according to plan.