Publication:

An investigation of students perception on cheating in National Examonations in Mwingi East Sub County, Kitui County

National examinations in Kenya are said to be Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, which is a national examination done at the end of primary school study and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education which is the final national examination done at the end of the secondary school study. These national examinations can be traced back in 1985 when Kenya adopted the 8-4-4 education system. These series of the examinations are usually done around the month of November in every academic year for the finalist students both in primary schools and secondary schools. The examinations are set by a centralized government examination body under the name of Kenyan National Examination Council which is tasked by the objective of setting a standardized national examination at both primary and secondary level. The first KCSE examination was done in 1989 and same years as the last KACE examination. The KCSE comprised of a minimum of 10 subjects and this was believed to contribute to examination cheating due to the workload required by the students during the examination period. However these subjects were revised and reduced to 7 in 2006 in a bid to try and reduce the students’ burden and overload. The research was guided by the following objectives; To determine the factors that contribute to national examination cheating in Mwingi East Sub County; To determine the effects of cheating in national examinations; To establish on the forms of national examination cheating in Mwingi East Sub County; To find out the measures that have been laid down to curb national examination cheating in Mwingi East Sub County. The researcher used a questionnaire for data collection. The researcher also used descriptive research design. Analysis was done using Microsoft excel and SPSS. Data analyzed was presented inform of pie charts, graphs followed by a brief description of the data presented. The findings were critically analyzed and a summary, conclusion and recommendations were noted and advised accordingly where if properly implemented it would greatly improve towards examination cheating. Some of the recommendations made were: teachers should prepare students thoroughly before examinations and learners should prepare themselves well before examinations; the society should not put a lot of pressure on students to perform beyond their abilities; required facilities for learning should be provided adequately in the schools to prepare students for examinations as well as Teachers being encouraged to complete the syllabus in time and coach students on examination taking skills