Education PS Julius Bitok, CS Julius Migos and KNEC CEO David Njegere at the media briefing on the release of the 2025 Kenya Junior Schools Education Assessment results at Mitihani House.
Teachers who invigilated, supervised and marked the 2025 national examinations and assessments will wait longer to be paid their allowances as the National Treasury sits on a request for urgent release of the funds.
Also included on the waiting list are security officers and other contracted officials. Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok has revealed that a request for a Sh1.5 billion made to the National Treasury a fortnight ago to settle the payments is yet to be responded to.
This comes despite mounting pressure from the thousands of examiners who oversaw the country’s largest-ever national examinations, with a total of 3.4 million candidates sitting the tests.
“About two weeks ago, I wrote a letter under Article 223 (of the Constitution) to the National Treasury to prioritise the moneys for the examiners of Sh1.5 billion and we have not yet received the feedback,” Prof Bitok told the National Assembly Committee on Education.
The 3.4 million candidates that sat the national examinations comprised 1.13 million for the inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA), 1.29 million for Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and 996,078 for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Knec Chief Executive David Njengere (left) with Basic Education PS Julius Bitok (seated), accompanied by senior education officials, during the launch of the Educational Assessment Resource Centre in Nairobi, on July 4, 2025.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) engaged a total of 137,110 invigilators for KPSEA and KJSEA who worked under 32,901 centre managers.
For KCSE, the examinations council engaged 54,782 invigilators who worked under 10,754 centre managers across the country.
“We now request that the committee helps us have this money prioritised so that we can we can pay our examiners as soon as possible,” Prof Bitok said during consideration of the Supplementary Estimates 1 for the financial year 2025/2026.
During this financial year, the State Department of Basic Education has requested for Sh12.7 billion to cater for school examinations and invigilation fees but has only been allocated Sh5.9 billion.
The first charge on the allocation was a pending bill of Sh1.03 billion pertaining to the 2024 national examinations and assessments slashing the amount available to the KNEC.
The National Treasury has since provided an additional allocation of Sh3.1 billion under Article 223 of the constitution, which reduced the funding gap to Sh4.7 billion regarding 2025 national examinations and assessments.
Kenya National Examinations Council headquarters, Mtihani House in South C in Nairobi.
“We therefore request for provision of Sh4.7 billion required for payment of supervision and invigilation fees, clear balances on; script fees for examiners, accommodation fees for marking centres, and trade creditors for supply of various goods and services required for the administration of national assessments,” Prof Bitok told the Committee that is chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly.
About a month ago, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba assured of the swift payment of the delayed dues for the examiners saying delays had arisen from cash flow constraints.
At the same time, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has been calling on the KNEC to settle the bill, warning failure to do so would negatively affect future engagements with teachers.
The KNEC is grappling with financial challenges.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu.
The Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has declared it technically insolvent and unable to meet its financial obligations.
KNEC’s accumulated deficit as at June 2025 stood at Sh2.79 billion, with liabilities of Sh2.81 billion outweighing current assets of Sh694.8 million, leaving the Council with a negative working capital of Sh2.12 billion.
Upon reviewing KNEC’s annual reports, the Auditor-General warned that Knec’s continued operations as a going concern will depend on sustained support from the government, donors and creditors.
Concurring with the observation, KNEC’s management told the National Assembly Public Investment Committee (PIC) on Governance and Education that the going concern uncertainty persists, citing years of insufficient budgetary allocations as the root of its financial strain.
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