The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) will pay the 2023 contracted professionals early than usual.
Sources have revealed that the Council plans to clear all its exam dues by February next year.
Contracted professionals include teachers, security personnel and drivers. Teachers are used as exam supervisors, invigilators, centre managers and exam marking.
This years a total of 234,473 teachers were used to administer the national exams. These include the supervisors, invigilators and exam markers.
At least 1,415,315 candidates sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams while a total of 1,282,574 candidates sat for their Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).
In secondary school a total of 903,260 candidates are sat this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
Already the KCPE results were released to the public. The marking of KPSEA and KCSE exams is ongoing.
KCSE results will be released by 26th December while KPSEA results will be released in January in schools to allow transition to junior secondary.
In honor of teachers who participated in marking KCPE English Sign Language Composition and Kiswahili Insha, Knec awarded the teachers with certificates.
Being the last KCPE as the country fully shifts to Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in primary schools Knec awarded 5,755 certificates to the examiners.
Knec also paid the examiners who successfully completed marking of the KCPE English Sign Language and Composition and Kiswahili Insha.
Last year teachers waited for almost a year to get their dues get paid by Knec. Knec had said it lacked the funds from treasury to pay the examiners.
This year Knec used deputy headteachers as assistant centre managers. However Knec will not pay the deputy headteachers because it says they don’t travel.
Knec does pay for the services offered by teachers during the examination period but only travel expenses.
KNEC 2023 PAYMENT RATES FOR CONTRACTED PROFESSIONALS
| Contracted Professional | Exam | Region | Pay Per Day | Total Days engaged | Total Pay |
| Centre Manager | KCPE/KPSEA | All Regions | Sh500 | 4 | Sh2,000 |
| Centre Manager | KCSE | All Regions | Sh500 | 18 | Sh9,000 |
| Invigilators | KCPE/KPSEA | All Regions | Sh538 | 3 | Sh1,615 |
| Invigilators | KCSE | Nairobi & Mombasa | Sh580 | 17 | Sh9,860 |
| Invigilators | KCSE | Other Regions | Sh460 | 17 | Sh7,820 |
| Supervisors | KCPE/KPSEA | All Regions | Sh621 | 4 | Sh2,485 |
| Supervisors | KCSE | Nairobi & Mombasa | Sh695 | 18 | Sh12,510 |
| Supervisors | KCSE | Other Regions | Sh630 | 18 | Sh11,340 |
| Security Officers | KCSE | All Regions | Sh420 | 16 | Sh6,720 |
| Drivers | KCSE | All Regions | Sh405 | 16 | Sh6,480 |
Currently there is a standoff between Knec and KCSE examiners. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) is pushing for review of the payments by Knec.
Speaking during the union’s executive board meeting in Nairobi, the Kuppet secretary-general asked Knec to increase the out-of-pocket allowance for examiners from Sh150 to Sh500 per day.
“The improved terms of service and engagement especially on how payment of examiners per script is to motivate them for the two and half weeks they undertake the exercise,” he said.
He accused Knec of exposing teachers to harsh working conditions during the administration of national examinations.
“Kenya National Examination Council has resorted to very punitive measures to suspend the 600 examiners of CRE Paper 1. This is uncalled for and we ask for the council to reconsider this position,” said Misori.
According to the Education committee report that investigated last year’s examination malpractice, poor pay of teachers was cited for the vice.
”The committee noted that with regard to the integrity of markers, marking schemes, award of marks and the moderation process, the activities at the marking centres were shrouded in secrecy. The examiners were not paid in a timely manner,” the report reads in part.