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Raila Odinga: KCPE Woes Rooted in Tender Wars within Education Ministry
Opposition leader Raila Odinga Wednesday December 6 alleged that the irregularities in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams stem from procurement disputes within the Education Ministry. He claims the issues arose after a UK company, previously contracted to print the exams due to concerns about exam integrity, was abruptly replaced by a Mombasa Road-based firm.
Odinga contends that the Kenyan government terminated the contract with the UK firm due to their refusal to offer kickbacks, awarding it instead to the Mombasa Road company despite lacking the necessary capacity and potentially jeopardizing exam integrity. This company then outsourced the printing to a firm in India, contributing to the observed inconsistencies.
He pointed to discrepancies between marks displayed on the SMS shortcode and those received by schools, including a case where all candidates in a single school scored identical marks in science. Odinga argues that these issues originated from the procurement battle, potentially impacting the upcoming KCSE exams as well.
The former Prime Minister asserted that he has evidence to support his claims and has written to stakeholders to fight for the preservation of exam integrity. He demands a thorough investigation into the award of the contract to the Mombasa Road company and transparency regarding the decision-making process.
In response to the accusations, KNEC conducted a review and found no evidence of malpractice in the case of identical science marks, attributing it to the multiple-choice format of the exam. However, they acknowledge that the SMS code displayed incorrect marks for some candidates, while maintaining that the results on their portal are accurate.
Education Ministry Refutes Claims
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu Thursday denied the allegations that the ministry terminated a contract with a UK firm to print exam materials. Machogu clarified that the ministry awards printing contracts to different firms every year and that the local company chosen for this year’s exams conducted its work professionally. He emphasized that no contract was terminated and that the ministry followed proper procedures.
During a session with the Education Committee, Machogu revealed that the ministry is conducting a forensic audit to address the public’s concerns. Meanwhile, KNEC CEO Dr. David Njengere reported that they have received and resolved over 700 out of 1043 complaints.
The education committee summoned Machogu to shed light on the numerous complaints and claims of irregularities surrounding the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. Various concerns were raised, including questionable verification process, mistaken results, SMS charges and rroneous SMS messages.
In response to these concerns, Machogu maintained that the exam and results were valid. He explained that the SMS platform was the only source of anomalies, and that the school portal with password access displayed accurate results. He insisted that the results sent to schools were accurate and used for official purposes.
Dr. Belio Kipsang added that the stringent process of combining exam results requires a 99% threshold of candidate scores before release, which was exceeded this year with a 99.321% achievement.
The ministry is scheduled to meet with the ICT ministry within two weeks to determine the cause of the SMS platform errors and explore the possibility of developing a ministry-run results transmission system.
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