The Phenomenon of “Missing Marks” and its Implications in Institutions of Higher Learning in Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya there has been an outcry of missing marks in both public and private universities which consequently leads to hundreds of students missing graduation. Most of the problems of missing marks are experienced in public universities. Missing marks refer to absence of recorded marks for a student in a particular course unit or examination that was either done or not done. The purpose of this study was to investigate and establish the existence, causes and implications of missing marks in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. The study was carried out in five public universities in Kenya using the descriptive survey research design. The study used university students, ICT officers, administrators in charge of Examinations at the university and chairpersons of academic departments as respondents. The study sampled fifty students, two ICT officers, four administrators in the Examination offices and five chairpersons of five departments from each of the five Universities. Therefore the total number of respondents used in the study was 250 students, 20 administrators in charge of Examinations and 25 chairpersons of departments, 10 lecturers and 10 ICT officers totaling to 315 respondents. Data was collected by use of Interview schedule and Questionnaires. University Students, lecturers and examination administrators filled open-ended Questionnaires while chairpersons of academic departments and ICT officers were interviewed. Data was analysed qualitatively and presented thematically. The findings indicate that there many causes of missing marks including the following: some students writing wrong registration numbers, wrong entry of marks, part-time lecturers fail to submit marks due delay in payment, lecturers wrong entry of students registration numbers, students’ failure to register for units, technical errors.  The findings show that some of the implications of missing marks include the following: many students fail to graduate, some unrests in a few universities, frustrations by students and parents, demotivation for some students, some students give up and drop out of universities, misunderstanding between parents and students, poor public image of universities. The study concluded that actions need to be taken to save our institutions of higher learning from this problem. This study recommends the following among others to curb the problem: proper induction to all first year students on issues of exams, proper training for heads of departments on matters of entry of marks, sensitization of lecturers on all matters to do with exams, payment of part-time lecturers on time, proper and safe keeping of answer booklets, universities to have electronic backups, proper documentation and record keeping procedures, come up with clear procedures for addressing missing marks, students who sit for exams and fail to submit booklets to be disciplined.