Magoha bars students, invigilators with large amounts of money from exam rooms

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha has said no student should be allowed to enter an examination room with a large amount of money.

Speaking when he supervised the distribution of examination papers in Kangema and Murang’a south sub-counties on Tuesday, Magoha said it’s clear why a student or those manning the KCSE examination should not carry large amounts of money at the centres.

He said during the administration of this year’s KCSE, a number of students and examination centre managers were found with large amounts of money for no apparent reason.

“I request the team manning the examinations to properly frisky the candidates and if one is found with money, the cash should be taken and kept at centre managers’ office. The money will be refunded when the examination is completed,” he added.

In Garissa County, Magoha noted a centre manager was found with more than Sh300, 000 and asked police to arrest those found with such large amounts of money without a genuine reason.

“Carrying large amounts of money to examination centres may mean one wants to compromise the administration of the exams,” noted Magoha.

The CS further said some candidates were requesting large printouts when they don’t need them, terming that as a way to try to cheat in the examinations.

“So if you are in some of those schools where the students request for large prints and they don’t require them, and then you get extra papers, we are going to catch up with you,” warned Magoha.

The CS asked the invigilators, supervisors and centre managers to avoid being compromised to facilitate cheating in the ongoing examinations.

“The teachers manning the examinations must be the very best to deliver credible examinations but yesterday we got three teachers who tried to facilitate cheating. If you have been given money to help in cheating, please return that money. We will eventually get you,” he added.

He continued, “lets us ensure all students do examinations on equal grounds. The centre managers and invigilators must abide by the given rules to ensure no cheating.”

In Murang’a county, 27, 534 candidates are sitting for KCSE examinations this year where the number of girls surpasses that of boys by 282.