Kenya National Examination Council should streamline payments for teachers

While threatening to boycott examinations marking last year, the Kenya National Union of Teachers said it would withdraw the services of teachers from the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), unless KNEC was disbanded.

At the time there were legitimate concerns that KNEC had failed to live up to expectation and was blamed for the rampant cases of exam cheating. Indeed, the examination body could not explain how papers in its custody found their way to schools in advance of the national exams. Teachers were also not happy with the examination body for holding onto their payment for too long.

As far back as 2003, examination supervisors and invigilators used to complain of late payment. This raises questions on the preparedness of KNEC and the availability of funds to facilitate the supervision and marking of national exams.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i disbanded KNEC early this year and appointed a new board, but that appears not to have solved the problems the exams body has with teachers. There are fresh threats to boycott marking coming exams unless the Government clears Sh1.2 billion owed to exam supervisors and invigilators.

This dispute must be resolved alongside ongoing reforms in the education sector to allow the country to turn another chapter.