KNEC clears examiners' pay after strikes, boycott threats

Educaton CS Julius Ogamba. [File,Standard]

The Kenya National Examinations Council has cleared outstanding marking allowances owed to examiners who handled the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

The payment follows months of delays that sparked walkouts, boycott threats and claims that the examinations body faced a funding crisis.

In a statement on Thursday, July 9, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the National Treasury released Sh1.5 billion on July 7, allowing KNEC to settle the balance owed to examiners and other contracted professionals.

"We are pleased to inform all examiners who participated in the marking of the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination that the balance of their marking allowances has been disbursed to their respective accounts by the Kenya National Examinations Council," said Ogamba.

The dispute dates back to late 2025 when examiners completed marking but remained unpaid for part of their work.

More than 800 KCSE examiners stopped marking in December, warning that delays in payment could affect the release of results for nearly one million candidates.

KNEC later released part of the money owed, allowing marking to resume, but the balance remained outstanding.

The financial strain facing the examinations council came into public view after Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu reported that KNEC had accumulated a deficit of Sh2.79 billion and liabilities that exceeded its assets by more than Sh2 billion.

According to the audit report, KNEC required Sh12.7 billion to administer the 2025 examination cycle but received Sh5.9 billion from the Exchequer.

The Treasury later released an additional Sh3.1 billion in supplementary funding, leaving a funding gap of about Sh4.76 billion.

The unpaid allowances triggered a public dispute between the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education over responsibility for the delayed payments.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi maintained that the Treasury had released all funds allocated to the Education Ministry and advised aggrieved teachers to pursue the matter with education officials.

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) responded by threatening to boycott the 2026 examination cycle unless the arrears were cleared, arguing that teachers had gone for months without payment for work already completed.

The issue later reached State House after Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok briefed President William Ruto on the impasse and sought intervention.

Mbadi later told teachers in Homa Bay on May 30 that he would seek approval to release the Sh1.5 billion before the end of the 2025/26 financial year on June 30.

That deadline passed without payment before the funds finally reached KNEC on July 7.

“This disbursement follows the receipt of Sh1.5 billion from the National Treasury on Tuesday, July 7, being the allocation for clearing the balance,” explained Ogamba.

“We commend the examiners and other contracted professionals for their professionalism, patience and continued commitment to fostering quality and credibility in our national assessments and examinations,” he added.