The National Treasury has borrowed Ksh 27.8 billion from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to meet financial obligations amid delayed payments across multiple sectors. A good chunk of these funds will go towards payments in the education sector, including overdue compensation for 2024 national exam invigilators, supervisors and centre managers.
Teachers to Get Exam Supervision Dues
Sources indicate that Ksh 1 billion will go towards paying teachers who supervised last year’s KCSE and KPSEA exams. They did their job months ago but are yet to be paid, hence the anger and demands for immediate action.
Teachers are angry and disappointed with KNEC which has already paid security officers and senior officials involved in exam administration. Payment for teachers is expected to start in March 2025.
This week, Elias Masika, interim chair of the Invigilators Association of Kenya, wrote to KNEC demanding urgent payment:
“Given the critical role these professionals played in ensuring credibility of national exams, I urge KNEC to pay them without further delay. Immediate action will not only be just but also maintain trust in the education sector,” Masika wrote in a letter dated February 16, 2025.
Last year, exam supervisors and invigilators faced similar delays, KNEC paid them in the next financial year’s budget.
KNEC Exam Supervision Payments
KNEC contracts various professionals including teachers, drivers and security personnel for national exams. But it doesn’t pay teachers for their services, instead it provides transport reimbursement allowances.
Revised rates for 2024 exam invigilation and supervision are:
- KPSEA Supervisors – Ksh 680 per day for 3 days → Ksh 2,040 total* KPSEA Invigilators – Ksh 550 per day for 3 days → Ksh 1,680 total
- KCSE Supervisors – Ksh 680 per day for 16 days → Ksh 10,880 total
- KCSE Invigilators – Ksh 550 per day for 16 days → Ksh 8,800 total
- Centre Managers – Ksh 550 per day for both KPSEA and KCSE
These rates were increased after secondary school teachers protested over KCSE exam supervision.
Misori said the Human Resource Policies and Procedures Manual for the Public Service should be used to ensure fair pay.
“Our members will reject the current remuneration structure during the upcoming exams. As the Cabinet Secretary in charge of KNEC’s budget, we ask you to pay teachers as per government policy,” he said.
Other Government Payments
Apart from paying KNEC exam fees, the Treasury will also release:
- Ksh 15 billion for capitation funds to schools as promised by **Education CS Julius Ogwang.
- Ksh 11 billion to settle outstanding hospital bills under the Ministry of Health’s Teachers’ Insurance Scheme (MAKL). Hospitals have gone six months without payment, and are now asking for cash upfront from insured teachers and their dependents.
What’s Next?
As payments come in, teachers and education stakeholders are hopeful but still cautious. However, further delays and low pay could spark more disputes and disruption to future exams.
The government now has to balance its books, pay on time and address the long outstanding issues of teacher pay—talks that will dominate the education sector for the next few months.