Four teachers in Kisii County will spend the night in police custody after being linked to exam cheating in the ongoing KCSE examinations.
The teachers, arrested on Wednesday, Npvember 22, were manning Geography Paper 2 at Bobamba Secondary School in Gucha Sub-County when a mobile phone and a question paper with answers were found behind an examination room.
David Ragot, an official with the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), spotted the foreign materials and raised the alarm, according to a police report.
"It was around 10.20am today. We were at Bobamba Secondary School with the director of education and officials from the education office to monitor the progress of the examinations when one of us found pieces of paper and a phone behind a classroom, which he took and brought to the officials," said Gucha Sub-County Police Commander Christine Amanya.
The officials found out that it was a 2023 KCSE Geography 2 paper question paper with answers scribbled on it, Ms Amanya explained.
Immediately, the centre manager, the supervisor and two invigilators were arrested.
"At our Ogembo police station, we have the head teacher (centre manager), the supervisor and the two invigilators. Investigations are ongoing and they will be charged with examination malpractice in court tomorrow (Thursday)," she said.
The teachers are Edwin Mokaya (principal), Gideon Omondi (supervisor), Joseph Simon Nyaosi (invigilator) and Ezekiel Nyambane (invigilator).
Ms Amanya noted that the Bobamba incident was the first recorded in Gucha Sub-County and warned teachers against compromising the integrity of the examinations.
"I want to warn teachers not to indulge in malpractice because they are spoiling the future generation," she said.
Initially, the principal of Nyambaria High School, the top school in the 2022 KCSE, was questioned over examination malpractice at the institution.
Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have also been investigating incidents of examination malpractice at Sironga Girls and Gekomoni Secondary Schools.
However, some politicians in the Gusii region have expressed concern that the many reports of examination malpractice emanating from the region could be an attempt to profile the Gusii community.
