When a third-year bachelor of arts student at the University of Nairobi, was unable to write her final examination due to illness, her lecturer agreed to let her retake the exam and told her to meet him in his office in the evening to discuss the details. Instead of receiving the information she needed, he informed her that there was no need for her to take the examination and forced her to have sex with him. A 2016 study on sexual harassment among university students at Kenya’s University of Eldoret found that more than 50% of students had encountered sexual harassment and there were no policies to address the issue.

A higher education qualifications framework aimed, inter alia, at curbing the proliferation of fake certificates will be in place at the start of January 2018. In terms of the new Kenya National Qualifications Framework, a national database of qualifications, publishing codes and guidelines will be maintained; an annual report on the status of qualifications will be produced; and interrelationships and linkages across national qualifications in consultation with stakeholders will be reviewed. The framework will also provide accurate graduate data to prospective employers.

Last month a student at Mount Kenya University, lost a case in the High Court in which she was challenging her suspension from the university over exam cheating. The judge dismissed the suit after he found that the disciplinary process the university followed was a fair administrative action. The student had gone to court to seek redress, arguing that the yardstick used by the university’s disciplinary committee to arrive at its verdict was unfair, excessive and in violation of the Constitution and her right to a fair hearing. So far, cheating in examinations in universities is widespread not just in Kenya but in most parts of the world.

According to a confidential report, Kenya’s universities are facing serious management challenges resulting in admission flaws, inadequate staffing, and low standards of examination administration, supervision and research. The report also shows that some institutions cut corners to increase admissions in order to seal budgetary gaps, allow students to graduate within months, or admit students to unaccredited programmes from which they are then allowed to graduate. After returning their reports with factual corrections done, the institutions in question will have 30 days to issue corrective roadmap.

The door was slammed shut on politicians rushing to acquire quick degrees before next year’s General Election. A directive by the Kenyan President on Thursday said university students must meet the minimum admission requirements and lecturer times. The Education ministry was ordered to fully implement the directives. “Universities that do not heed these requirements should be dealt with according to the law,” said the President.

Universities involved in corruption will be stripped of their charters, the Education Cabinet Secretary has said. The minister warned that universities that admit and allow unqualified students to graduate will also lose their charters. He also said universities that grant politicians certificates that they are not qualified for ahead of next year’s elections will be not be spared. He spoke during the first graduation of the Cooperative University of Kenya on Friday.

The Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education examinations ended last week while the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations begin Monday. They both mark the culmination of a year of reforms of the systems and processes for managing those exams. While there is still a number of hurdles to cross in order to stamp out corruption entirely, the positive measures that the CS of Education has introduced will be celebrated in public when the results are announced in February, 2017.

A scholar has challenged institutions of higher learning to be on the frontline in the fight against graft by revoking certificates of their alumni implicated in corruption. He said most people implicated in graft are well learned people and have been through universities. He said if this measure is implemented it will aid in the fight against corruption because people will fear losing their certificates as it would render them jobless.

The Education Cabinet Secretary brushed off critics of the new measures he announced on Wednesday and announced that he will set aside all his ministerial duties in November to go around the country and monitor how the national examinations will be conducted. The secretary, known for his impromptu visits to schools which have put many headteachers on the spot, on Friday said his November 4 to 30 diary had been cleared to ensure he visits schools countrywide. He said there were many other measures the ministry has in the pipeline to stem examination cheating, including the use of technology.

The new rules spelt out by the Education Cabinet Secretary to curb cheating in national examinations signal the government’s determination to restore credibility in the country’s education system. For the past few years, the country has been grappling with rising cases of examination cheating, which reached ridiculous levels last year to the point where the public lost faith in the sanctity of the exams as schools, candidates, parents, examiners, and education and security officers were all roped into the cheating loop. More bold action must be taken to restore the credibility of the exams.