An assessment of the management of kcse examination and its Influence on irregularities among students: a case of Secondary schools in Mandera county, Kenya

Abstract

Examination irregularities at the global, regional and local levels have emerged as a major concern for the educationists and society at large. Several strategies to tackle these problems have been considered including the use of the law to discourage malpractices in examinations. The underlying objective of this study was to assess national examination irregularities in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) in Mandera County. The study attempted to investigate the extent to which malpractices in KCSE examination has been attributed to teachers, school administrators, students, parents, supervisors and invigilators. This study is a descriptive research that employed a case study research design. The target population of this study was 33 secondary schools distributed among the six districts of Mandera county, that is, Mandera East, Mandera West, Mandera Central, Mandera North, Banisa and Lafey. The sample of the study comprised of teachers, head teachers, examination officials and form four students in 10 public secondary schools in Mandera County. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Using simple descriptive statistics data was analyzed and results presented in tables of frequency distribution, graphs and charts. Bringing pre-prepared answers to examination halls emerged as one of the most common form of examination irregularity with a mean of 4.51 and a standard deviation of 0.942. It was also established that students copy from each other during national examinations as evidenced with a mean of 4.12 and a standard deviation of 1.098. According to the analysis of the findings, the respondents indicated that there should be intensified efforts in supervision of students during examinations (Mean=4.53 and standard deviation=0.598) as well as hand-checking of students’ pockets (Mean= 4.23 and standard deviation= 0.954). The study also recommended that effective measures should be taken by those in charge of the administration of examinations in public secondary schools to discourage students from cheating in examinations. All examination procedures, right from setting to sitting of the examinations, should be observed. Situations that students find themselves in should be detected so that proper guidance and counselling could be provided to avoid stressful environments during examinations. It is further recommended that heads of schools in primary schools should ensure that proper procedures that discourage cheating are established or strictly followed to inculcate ethical behavior amongst their students. This will limit students from transiting to secondary schools with cheating behaviours.