KCSE Cheating Cartels Behind Schools Unrest, Says Thika KNUT Boss, Suggests CCTVs In Schools.

Thika KNUT Executive Secretary Joe Mungai Ngige has blamed the current wave of schools unrest on examination cheating cartels whom he said were out to disrupt Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi’s measures to curb the vice.

He added that a few top Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) officials, who are believed to be the ones running the cartel that has for years been influencing exam cheating, fear losing billions in bribes that now that the loopholes had been sealed by the minister’s move.

This cartel, he said, worked with some school principals and teachers who ensured that the papers were only leaked to those who paid for them and would give ample time for the students study the sold papers. The fee charged, which translated into billions, ended up in their pockets.

“Exams cheating has for years been a very lucrative business for a few KNEC officials who make billions every year in the sales of exams leakage. I can only equate this racket to that of drug barons. It is a big market that unfortunately involves some of our principals and teachers who happen to be the middlemen,” he said.

Speaking exclusively to Thika Town Today, Mungai said that most of the schools affected had a history of exams cheating. He added that some of the schools who previously performed well in KCSE were getting themselves in the mix as they struggled to get back to their previous glory days.

He pointed out some of the schools in the neighbouring districts that were now on strike over very flimsy reasons but were known to be struggling to regain their glory of yesteryears.

“If you look at the trend (of these unrests), one cannot fail to see a specific cadre of schools that have been involved. Why aren’t we seeing schools like Mang’u, Alliance or Starehe in this? Of course, the trend leads us to particular conclusions. Why do we have challenges in those schools?” he posed.

He also did not rule out the possibility of some school heads and boards of management, who were unhappy with ongoing reforms in the Education Ministry to ensure accountability in schools, being behind the wave of unrest that has hit very many schools.

“Yes! It may be a possibility that some of them were using the chaos to cover up for their misdeeds. I will not judge them but, well, yes it is possible,” he responded to our question on the same.

However, Mr. Mungai was happy to note that no school in Thika Sub-County had been involved in the mess. He was optimistic that this wave of madness will die out and the culprits eventually brought to book.

He suggested that, as a precaution measure, every school should install CCTV cameras in their facilities to help monitor the movements of everyone within their compounds.

“I think that it is the high time every school got installed with CCTV cameras. It should be a precondition that parents from those schools which went on strike to be made to foot the bills to fix this gadgets before being readmitted back to school. These installations will ease the burden of supervision by headteachers and their staff. They will help a lot for monitoring won’t demand one’s presence at every point. It is possible for one to do it even from the comfort of their own houses,” Mungai said.

Otherwise, Mungai supported the efforts by the Education CS in trying to streamline the sector though he was against his impromptu visits to schools which he said, intimidated the teachers.