NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha ordered the expulsion of National Youth Service (NYS) personnel from examination centres in Machakos on Monday insisting on the deployment of armed police officers to provide security.
The servicemen and women were on standby to provide security in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
They had been ferried to Machakos to compliment police officers in offering security during the examinations.
The CS was surprised to find the NYS personnel waiting to receive examinations when he arrived at a Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) examinations container in Machakos Town.
He officiated the opening of the container located at the Machakos Subcounty Education Office at exactly 6.00am.
Magoha said no NYS service man or woman should be involved in monitoring the examinations.
He insisted that each examinations centre must be secured by at least two armed police officers.
“I have found reasonable improvement, but we must still re-emphasize the issue of security and integrity for our examinations. So, we have agreed with the county police commander that even in Machakos despite all the other duties that the officers are doing, we must have two armed police officers in each examination centre,” Magoha said.
He addressed the press outside the Machakos Subcounty Education Office shortly after opening the container.
Magoha added: “We are not crazy to insist on this. As I speak to you, there are centres in Northern part of this country where the second paper sometimes is tampered with. And this emphasises the need to have at least two police officers to ensure that one of the policeman is constantly with the examinations. Since I have been assured that police officers are there, we must have a minimum of at least two police officers per centre.”
He said the ministry firmly in control of the examinations.
“In order to continue to reaffirm this control, then we must be extra vigilant. We are also aware that people are also trying to peddle fake papers. We are also aware that there are still attempts to get people to sit the examinations,” Magoha said.
He said the integrity of the second paper was going to be the ministry’s focus.
“Let me warn those people who want to destroy our children especially in refugee camps where they think that they have access to do whatever they want that we shall tame them. In the event that you succeed to do something that is not reasonable, our teachers who mark those papers will find out and condemn these children for no good reason, ” Magoha said.
He told examinations monitors to actively monitor the examinations.
“I want to challenge all the monitors that they are not flower girls, they are supposed to be actively monitoring, assuming that everybody is not trusted so that we continue ensuring integrity of the examinations.”
“ Nobody should have access to the examination halls including the centre managers unless there’s very good reason,” he added.
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