Kenya exams: KUPPET keeps boycott threat, seeks KSh 4,000 a day for exam officials; KPSEA and KJSEA set to start 26 October

The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) directed its members on 14 October to withdraw from all examination administration, supervision and marking duties over pay, working conditions and unpaid arrears, The Star reported on 19 October. The union wants a minimum flat rate of KSh 4,000 a day for supervisors and other examination officials and at least KSh 100 for marking each paper. The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) are scheduled to run from 26 to 30 October, and main written papers in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), the national exam at the end of secondary school, start on Monday 2 November.

When KCSE oral and practical papers began on 19 October, KUPPET had not called off the boycott or reached a deal with the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) or the government. On 17 October the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (KESSHA) called for a meeting of KUPPET, KNEC and school administrators to resolve the dispute. KUPPET has threatened to mobilise its members to boycott exam supervision and marking unless KNEC agrees to talks and reviews the pay, The Standard reported on 26 October.

KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori said, as quoted by the Kenyan broadcaster Switch TV on 14 October: “If they don’t give any assurances to improve examiners’ terms and conditions of service, we shall ensure that we paralyse the examination management in the entire 2026.”

On 24 September Misori said a centre organiser “is being paid below what a construction worker is being paid”, as quoted by the Kenyan news site Kenyans.co.ke. He said then that if the Salaries and Remuneration Commission did not review the pay of teachers serving as examiners, supervisors, invigilators and centre managers, KUPPET would ask teachers not to manage exams, from KPSEA through KCSE.

The Standard put the daily rates for exam duty on 30 July at KSh 450 for invigilators, KSh 500 for supervisors and KSh 550 for centre managers, each raised by KSh 50 in 2024. KUPPET Deputy Secretary General Moses Nthurima cited a marking rate of KSh 55 a paper and a KSh 150 pocket allowance that he said dated from 1990, the Kenyan news site Nairobi Wire reported on 14 October. The site said rates for contracted staff are reviewed every four years, with the next review due in 2027.

KNEC chief executive David Njengere announced on 6 October that the council will deploy 342,005 contracted professionals this season for 3,634,846 candidates across three exams. For KCSE alone, which has 1,048,355 candidates, that means 10,765 centre managers, 12,274 supervisors, 57,432 invigilators and 21,388 security officers.

The union’s complaints also cover arrears from the 2025 exams. More than 800 KCSE examiners stopped marking in December 2025, warning that unpaid work could delay results for nearly 1 million candidates. KNEC paid part of the debt and marking resumed, but a balance stayed unpaid. On 30 May, in Homa Bay, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said he would seek approval to release KSh 1.5 billion before the financial year ended on 30 June. In a statement on 9 July, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said KNEC had paid examiners the balance of their marking allowances for the 2025 exams after receiving KSh 1.5 billion from the National Treasury on 7 July.

By 30 July, KUPPET and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) had told members not to administer this year’s exams until the outstanding 2025 allowances were paid. The unions said only teachers who served as examiners had been paid and thousands of others were still waiting. Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa said the ministry was working with the Treasury to pay the remaining teachers through KNEC’s contracted-professionals (CP2) system, with funds to be released once verification was complete. Both unions said only “actual payment, not promises” would persuade teachers to administer the exams. Misori said at the time, as quoted by The Standard on 30 July: “It is unacceptable for teachers to work under such demanding conditions and then wait almost a year to be paid.”

On 4 August Njengere told the National Assembly Education Committee that KNEC had received KSh 4.95 billion on 3 August and would use KSh 2.5 billion to pay 2025 arrears owed to supervisors, invigilators, centre managers, security personnel and marking centres. He said all the arrears would be settled by 6 August.

Mbadi said the Treasury had released all the funds allocated to the Education Ministry and advised aggrieved teachers to take the matter up with education officials. Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu reported that KNEC needed KSh 12.7 billion to run the 2025 examination cycle and received KSh 5.9 billion from the Exchequer. The Treasury later released KSh 3.1 billion in supplementary funding. She also reported an accumulated deficit of KSh 2.79 billion and liabilities that exceeded KNEC’s assets by more than KSh 2 billion.

Msambweni MP Feisal Bader has backed calls for higher allowances for teachers who administer national exams, the Kenyan education news site Education News reported on 25 October.

KCSE rehearsals began on 16 October. KCSE papers with small candidate numbers run from 19 to 30 October, and those with large candidate numbers from 2 to 20 November.