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Why exam cheating is child abuse
Cheating in national exams give an undue advantage to some candidates.
Who we entrust our children to, whether teachers, schools, or caregivers, can either shape them into ethical citizens or expose them to profound harm disguised as ‘help.’
As the 2025 KCSE exams unfold, alarming reports have emerged: head teachers have been suspended, university students have been arrested for impersonating candidates, and teachers have been caught sneaking phones into exam rooms. Behind these headlines lies a silent tragedy: the exploitation of children by adults who should be their protectors.
It is a tragedy that unscrupulous school owners, head teachers, and teachers are using students as pawns in their quest for glory. For some schools, it is about chasing mean grades to attract more enrolment and protect reputations. For the teachers, it is about securing bonuses. In all these, the child - often obedient, trusting, and eager to please - becomes the casualty.
When adults manipulate children to cheat, we not only violate examination rules but also undermine the very essence of education. These children are being coached to believe that dishonesty is acceptable if it achieves results. They are being initiated into a culture of corruption, one that starts in the classroom but echoes into adulthood, workplaces, and leadership.
Exam malpractice
And what happens when the cheating is discovered? It is the child who carries the burden, because their results are cancelled. Their years of effort, their nights of revision, their anxious prayers before every paper, reduced to nothing. Their names appear on lists of shame while the adults who engineered the malpractice simply move on.
In a circular to all 2025 candidates and schools, Kenya National Examinations Council CEO Dr David Njengere warned against exam malpractice, noting that 711 candidates had their 2024 results cancelled. “It was a painful decision, but it had to be done in the interest of enforcing integrity in our examinations and assessments.”
Can you imagine the pain of your 17-year-old child realising that the people who were supposed to guide them set them up for failure? The shame of explaining to their peers and relatives why their results were cancelled. The slow erosion of self-esteem, as shame turns inward. “I am not good enough.” This is not just an academic crime. It is child abuse.
Child abuse is not only physical harm but also includes emotional, psychological, and moral violation. When adults betray the trust of children for selfish gain, they damage them in ways that are often invisible. The scars linger in the heart and mind of the child. As a country, we need to start calling this what it is. Exam malpractice is neither a clever shortcut nor a system failure, but an exploitation of minors under the authority of adults. It is the corruption of innocence.
Dr Lunar Odawa, a clinical psychologist and child therapist, outlines the long-term psychological effects of exam malpractice on a child.
Emotional well-being
“Exam malpractice deeply affects children’s emotional well-being. Many lose confidence in their own abilities because they begin to believe they can’t succeed without cheating. When adults normalise shortcuts, it kills the child’s motivation to work hard. For some, being forced to cheat creates inner conflict and sadness; they know it’s wrong but feel powerless to refuse. Over time, this can lead to anxiety, hopelessness, or even depression. We must remember that when we involve children in exam malpractice, we are not helping them; we are harming their sense of self-worth and integrity.”
How do we allow the level of dishonesty we are witnessing and not go up in arms to protect our children? How do we remain silent when adults use their power to manipulate, threaten, or entice students into wrongdoing? Every parent, teacher, and policy-maker should be enraged.
Our children deserve better. They deserve schools that nurture integrity, not institutions that trade it for mean scores. They deserve teachers who model honesty and resilience, not those who hand them stolen answers. They deserve to learn that success earned through hard work carries dignity, and that failure, when faced truthfully, can be a powerful teacher.
As parents, we cannot delegate our vigilance entirely to schools. We must ask hard questions. What kind of culture does the school promote? Are teachers more focused on values or grades? Do they celebrate genuine effort or only top scores? It is time to look beyond the results and assess the environment shaping our children.
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