Masaba KNUT branch has lauded the decision by Education cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i to dissolve the Kenya National Examination Council board and its subsequent replacement.
Matiang’i sacked the entire board on Thursday under the leadership of Dr Joseph Kivilu following an investigative report that linked the board to massive examination leakages in 2015 national exams.
Branch secretary general James Oteki termed the decision ‘long overdue’ and challenged the new secretariat under the leadership of Prof George Mogoha to uphold integrity in management of the exams.
“As Masaba Knut branch, we would like to applaud the bold decision by our able cabinet secretary for dissolving the board. The decision is long overdue and is certainly welcome,” Oteki said.
“More importantly, we wish to challenge the new board to safeguard the integrity of our national examinations by combat leakages. Knec bears the greatest responsibility in safeguarding national exams and we believe as a branch that Mogoha will certainly excel in his new role,” he added.
Mr Oteki also called for vetting of various officers within the examination council and challenged the new management to start a “clean up” exercise to avert future predicaments in terms of examination malpractices.
“This dishonesty (cheating) must stop henceforth. We all understand that there are still some officers who were not affected by the changes. The new team should vet those who survived in a cleanup exercise to kick out those with questionable reputation,” he said.