KNEC Bows To Demands By Striking Mang'u Teachers Marking KCSE Papers

UPDATE: The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has agreed to replace the Chief Examiner as a compromise to ensure a smooth progress of the marking exercise, following the strike by teachers marking the KCSE exams.

KNEC Chairman Julius Nyabundi in a statement was responding to claims that they were unhappy with the "strict" marking regime imposed by the Centre's Chief Examiner and agreed to replace him upon consultations.

"Unfortunately, despite responding to their initial demand, a few of the examiners yet again came up with a fresh call that the marking fee be revised upwards. Since the issue of the examiner's marking fee is an individual contract and agreed to before reporting to a centre, the Council found it impossible to find an extra budget to revise the rates midway.

"The Council, therefore, resolved to allow the examiners who were willing to continue with the marking process to do so uninterrupted. Equally, those who wished to exit the marking exercise were allowed to do so without causing further interruptions to the process. In the meantime, the Council has invited trained examiners from its database to ensure the smooth progress of the exercise," KNEC stated in part, further assuring the country that the marking exercise is going on well and will be completed in time to ensure a timely release of the KCSE Examinations.

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu and Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang on Tuesday, January 10 moved to stop a disruption caused by examiners marking the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams at St. Francis Mang'u Girls High School who went on strike.

Entrance to St Francis Girls High School, Mang'u. /FACEBOOK

The marking of the 2022 exam papers was halted indefinitely after teachers involved in the exercise downed their tools in protest of poor working conditions and low pay.

The examiners who were marking the Christian Religious Education (CRE) paper at the time the strike kicked off had complained that the centre's chief examiner introduced punitive policies that significantly slowed down the examinations' marking process.

The teachers who spoke to the media also lamented that they received lower pay than their colleagues who were marking Kiswahili papers. According to the examiners, they received Ksh55 for every CRE paper marked compared to their colleagues getting Ksh78 for every Kiswahili paper that they mark.

Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) was also blamed by the teachers for using rates similar to those in the 2010 examinations despite the harsh economy in the country at the moment.

The St. Francis examiners also lamented that they were subjected to an unnecessarily high amount of work since they start their day at 5 am and only retire to bed after 10 pm.

They also complained that they were barred from carrying electronics such as phones and laptops into the marking centre, which has ruined their attempts to communicate during the day.

In addition, the examiners faulted the marking scheme which they claimed was rigid.

The stalemate that began on Monday evening, January 9 grew on Tuesday as the striking examiners were ordered to vacate the venue in 30 minutes. However, the rowdy group declined to heed to CS Machogu's order, instead chanting President William Ruto's name.

KNEC CEO David Njegere was also at St. Francis centre to de-escalate the situation but his efforts proved futile.

The examiners have vowed to continue with the go-slow until their grievances are addressed in a move that threatens to push the release of the 2022 KCSE results to a later date.

Kipsang announced on December 23, 2022, that the results of the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations would be released by January 23, 2023.

"As we mark the end of the national examinations 2022 cycle today, all the examination handlers and examiners will have a busy Christmas as the marking of KCSE 2022 will start immediately.