Knut SG Wilson Sossion. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
After the release of KCSE results that saw most candidates fail to get the university admission marks, shocking details are now emerging to show that the papers could have been compromised.
A number of teachers who marked the papers have complained that they were forced to work under intense pressure and that this affected the credibility of the marks they awarded.
The teachers also admitted that some of the marking schemes used had errors and that nobody came in to do the moderation of results.
Because of the tight time schedule, it has emerged that some assessors never had the opportunity to go through the work of the markers and so missed the opportunity to attend to any mistakes that could have occurred.
In the KCSE results released on Wednesday by Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, worrying levels of failure were recorded with at least 350,000 candidates scoring grade D and below yet a paltry 142 candidates scored an A.
“Right from the beginning we were reminded that the marking would be fast-tracked,” one teacher said as reported by Nation.
“First we had been told we would begin marking on December 6 only to be called abruptly on December 3 to report to the centres and start working.”
The markers also said that unlike in the past when the chief examiners were teachers, this year saw officials sent by the Kenya National Examinations Council and these were not familiar with marking.
“The decision led to us being overworked and made to mark extra scripts. I am sure several errors may have spilled to the final results,” one examiner said.
“Throughout the marking period there was no permission to get out of the centre. Even when an individual needed medical attention, it would be given within the marking centre,” another said.