Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has insisted that there was no cheating in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The CS told the media at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) on Friday, “From where I sit there was no cheating.”
Machogu dismissed allegations of widespread cheating, particularly in the Nyanza region, as propaganda.
“This is propaganda coined by people who don’t have proper intentions for our country,” he said.
According to the CS, the Ministry of Education and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) conducted credible examinations.
“I want to make it clear that when we were briefing the categories and I went to various counties with meetings and all those concerned with the administration of exams, I did that because I want us to have an exam where integrity has not been compromised,” Machogu said.
“I have seen a lot of misrepresentation and a lot of people coming up with information that is not true,” he added.
He then went on to detail how many As each county has produced since 2016.
According to Machogu, the number of candidates who have achieved the minimum university entry level of C+ has gradually increased since then.
According to him, there were 141 As out of 571,161 candidates in 2016, representing 0.002%. Machogu characterised the 2016 results as a mass failure.
In 2021, there were 1,138 As out of 821,582 candidates, with 145,145 students achieving C+ and above.
In the 2022 KCSE, however, that number has risen to 1,146 As out of 173,345 candidates.
Machogu was responding to claims that his region produced 800 As.
“Don’t profile communities saying because the cabinet secretary comes from this region they passed,” Machogu said.
He said Siaya county leads in the Nyanza region with 72 As, followed by Migori county with 66As.
“If we were to rate counties then Nyamira would be number 40,” he said.
He added that Kisumu had 59 As, Kisii 50, Homa Bay 47 and Nyamira 31.
