Why Machogu Wants To Stop Access Of KCSE Results Via SMS

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu has teased plans by his Ministry to abandon the use of Short Messaging Service (SMS) to access results of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.

Speaking on Thursday, December 7 while appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee, Machogu revealed that the move was a response to errors which were widely called out by among others, Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga, culminating from system hitches in the recently-released KCPE results.

While admitting that the release of the exams was impacted by minor errors, the CS cited a company that was contracted to manage the QR code used for relaying results as the cause of the system hitch.

“As a CS, I have learnt lessons because you can see as a ministry, everything was right. Somebody we can call an outsider was given the contract but did not conform and do to the required standard.

"Moving forward, when we release the KCSE examinations, we will not be able to make use of the same service provider,” he stated.

The Education CS further noted that he was engaging ICT experts to develop a portal which would be accessed by members of the public free of charge as compared to getting the results via SMS which sees one charged Ksh25 per SMS.

He however underlined that the school portals are the most reliable source as the Ministry of Education transmits results to the portal directly for school heads and parents to access.

“I am already engaging ICT we see whether we can be able to develop a website that members of the public can be able to access free of charge. When we release our KCSE anytime soon,” Machogu stated.

Machogu also maintained that the results were factual, stating, "The Ministry did not rush the release of the 2023 KCPE results. We undertook due diligence in marking, verification, and validation before releasing the exam and releasing the results." 

At the same time, the CS dismissed claims by Raila that the Kenya Kwanza administration terminated a contract with a firm based in the United Kingdom (UK), clarifying that the contracts are awarded yearly competitively.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, December 6, Raila made public the blunders by President William Ruto's administration, claiming that it had cancelled the tender with the firm that was initially responsible for printing the exams because it did not offer bribes to the government in return.

The former Prime Minister claimed that this was a matter that forced the government to shift tact to a Mombasa Road-based firm which it awarded the tender, despite being incapable of printing the exams in a short time.