Kenyans have been urged to provide social and psychological guidance to candidates whose KCSE examinations were cancelled or withheld due to various malpractices.
Failure to have the affected candidates taken through professional counseling could lead to their stigmatisation which may eventually risk their falling into depression and other mental health issues.
Speaking immediately after the Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba released the 2024 KSCE results at the KNEC headquarters, Rashid Abdalla, news presenter at Citizen TV called to counseling forums for the affected candidates.
The journalist commended KNEC for offering a second chance to the affected candidates and others to retake the test before 2027 when KCSE will be scrapped.
In announcing the results Ogamba disclosed that some 91 examination officials had been found to have been involved in aiding cheating and other malpractices but did not disclose what punishment they would face.
The journalist questioned the CS silence and urged him to disclose their identities and what disciplinary action would be taken against the officers.
We need to know what action will be taken against the officers from KNEC who aided the cheating and other malpractices given that the candidates had already received their punishment.
Positive facets
These are our children and should be taken through counselling and given hope not to feel like the end of life have come….they should be encouraged to look at other positive facets of life and continue with their lives, said the journalist.
Abdulla warned that if neglected the candidates may attempt to take their lives through suicide or generally deteriorate to mental related crisis which could prevented through interventions at family, community and professional level.
The journalist encouraged those affected to consider retaking the cancelled or withheld examinations results in a bid to pursue their career dreams and become meaningful people at family and community level.
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The call by the journalist comes in the wake of widespread crisis relating to increased mental health issues among the young and old due to various problems affecting Kenyans.
During the release of the examinations, the Education CS Ogamba announced that 841 candidates had their examinations results cancelled due to various malpractices while those for 2829 results had been withheld.
Malpractices
The CS said new rules to eradicate cheating and other malpractices by the candidates and the examinations officials had been adopted and could not explain why the cheating happened.
While the government should be in the forefront of ensuring the candidates whose examinations were cancelled or withheld and even those who did not perform well received encouragement and counselling the CS and his team ignored this area.
Despite wide and deep entrenchment of counselling to prevent negative lifestyles leading to drug abuse, depression and the current widespread mental health related ailments little is done by the government to ensure candidates affected by national examinations malpractices benefited from immediate counseling at family, institutional or community level.
By Robert Nyagah
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