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A cloud of anxiety swept over Makande Girls Secondary School in Mvita, Mombasa County, as eight candidates preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams were overcome by a mysterious gas on Thursday morning. As the students settled in to begin their Kiswahili paper, a noxious smell reportedly permeated the school compound, sending several girls into distress.
Of the 84 candidates sitting their exams that day, eight were affected. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos, addressing the incident, confirmed that three students regained their strength after receiving first aid on-site. However, five students required further medical care and were rushed to the hospital, where they were treated and later discharged. “The source of the gas is still under investigation,” Migos stated, noting that a multi-agency team had been deployed to trace its origin.
The incident forced the relocation of the affected candidates to nearby Makupa Boys High School, where they were able to continue their examinations in a safer environment. This episode disrupted the students’ exams and caused alarm in the local community.
The incident at Makande Girls wasn’t the only disruption to hit the KCSE exams this week. In Kisumu County, an unexpected security breach occurred at Menara Academy in Muhoroni, where the centre manager, Evans Ochieng Owili, was arrested after photos of Wednesday’s Chemistry exam paper were found on his mobile phone. The discovery was made by vigilant education officials.
In response to such cases, CS Migos defended the ban on mobile phones in exam rooms. “In Nairobi, a few students were found with phones, but they were intercepted before entering the exam room, so no compromise occurred,” Migos reported, adding that even officers handling exam papers are carefully rotated to prevent familiarity and reduce tampering risks.
Furthermore, CS Migos appealed to the judiciary for faster processing of exam-related cases. He referenced a recent incident in Homa Bay, where eight teachers were arraigned for allegedly photocopying a Chemistry paper for a candidate who was unwell. The accused educators, each released on a Ksh. 2 million bond, now face a potential lifetime ban from teaching. “They will never be able to teach in this country again,” Migos said.
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