Ministry Warns School Heads Against Illegal Levies for Feeding KNEC Exam Officials
The Ministry of Education has issued a stern warning to heads of institutions (HOIs) against demanding money from parents to feed Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) officials deployed to supervise national examinations and assessments, terming the practice an illegal levy that violates existing government guidelines.
Every year, KNEC contracts teachers to serve in various capacities during the administration of national exams — as invigilators, supervisors, exam centre managers and script markers.
In addition, the Council contracts security personnel and drivers to support the logistics of exam administration. During the exam and assessment period, schools are expected to provide meals for these officials at the various exam centres across the country.
Under the new curriculum, however, the composition of officials deployed to centres has changed somewhat.
KNEC no longer deploys security personnel to all assessment centres as a matter of course. Security officers are now only sent to centres facing specific threats that could potentially disrupt an assessment, or to man the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, which remain the largest and most high-stakes national exam.
This means that in most cases, it is teachers — invigilators, supervisors and centre managers — who form the bulk of officials that schools must feed during assessment periods, with security personnel only present in select circumstances.
Despite this arrangement being long-standing, and despite schools having already received funding for exam logistics through the third-term capitation disbursement, reports have emerged of school heads asking parents to contribute additional money specifically to cater for the meals of these officials. It is this practice that has now drawn direct condemnation from the Ministry.
Director General Issues Direct Warning
The warning was issued by the Director General for Basic Education, Dr. Elyas Abdi Jillaow, who said the Ministry has received numerous complaints from parents claiming they have been asked to pay money to cater for lunch for supervisors, invigilators and, in some cases, security personnel stationed at exam centres.
“This goes against ministry guidelines issued earlier on illegal levies. Provision of lunch for candidates shouldn’t be forced on parents. All field officers are instructed to stop this and report such cases to this office immediately. Action will be taken against any officer in whose jurisdiction such cases are reported,” said Dr. Abdi.
According to the Ministry, schools were already allocated sufficient funds for national exam logistics as part of the capitation funds disbursed in third term. This allocation, the Ministry argues, is meant to cover such costs, including the feeding of officials deployed to administer national assessments.
As such, any additional demand for money from parents for this purpose falls outside approved guidelines and amounts to an illegal levy.
Parents Speak Out
The directive comes against the backdrop of mounting complaints from parents across the country, many of whom say they have been asked to pay between Sh500 and Sh1,000 depending on the level of assessment their children are sitting — whether the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA), or the KCSE.
More troubling, according to affected parents, is the manner in which these demands have reportedly been enforced. Some parents allege that children have been threatened with exclusion from national exams if the money is not paid.
“Children are being threatened that if they don’t pay they won’t sit the national exams. This is becoming a psychological torture at this time to learners,” said one parent.
Such threats, coming at a time when learners should be focused on preparing for high-stakes national assessments, have raised concern among education stakeholders about the emotional and psychological toll on candidates, many of whom have no control over their families’ financial circumstances.
Pending Legislation Could Impose Heavy Penalties
The timing of this warning is notable, coming as an education bill addressing illegal levies moves through its final stages of public participation before proceeding toward enactment into law.
The proposed bill outlines significant penalties for school administrators found to be charging illegal levies — a category that would explicitly include admission fees, activity money, and charges related to feeding exam officials.
Under the proposed law, school administrators found culpable of imposing such levies could face a fine of up to Sh1,000,000, a jail term of three years, or both.
If passed, this would represent one of the most stringent legal deterrents yet against the long-standing practice of schools imposing informal charges on parents outside approved fee structures.
Education stakeholders will be watching closely to see whether the bill’s passage, once public participation concludes, will translate into more consistent enforcement across the country’s institutions, particularly during exam periods when such levies tend to spike.
Countdown to National Exams
The warning comes at a critical juncture, with schools now less than a month away from the start of the 2026 national examinations and assessments.
KNEC has already released the 2026 examination and assessment timetable, which is as follows:
- Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE): Monday, 19th October to Friday, 20th November 2026
- Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA): Monday, 26th October to Wednesday, 28th October 2026
- Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment (KILEA): Monday, 26th October to Friday, 30th October 2026
- Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA): Monday, 26th October to Friday, 30th October 2026
- Kenya Pre-Vocational Level Education Assessment (KPLEA): Monday, 26th October to Thursday, 29th October 2026
With the exam period fast approaching, preparations on the administrative side are also nearing completion. The deployment of teachers to exam centres, facilitated through the CP2 platform, is close to finalization, with Curriculum Support Officers expected to conclude the exercise by next week.
Once deployment is finalized, teachers assigned to various centres will proceed for KNEC briefing sessions ahead of the examination period, where they will be taken through the guidelines and protocols governing the administration of the national assessments.
A Call for Compliance
As the countdown to the exams continues, the Ministry’s warning serves as a reminder to school heads that funding for exam-related logistics, including the feeding of KNEC officials, has already been catered for through capitation.
Parents, for their part, are being urged to report any cases where they are asked to make additional payments outside approved fee guidelines, with the Ministry promising that field officers found condoning or failing to act on such cases will themselves face consequences.
For now, the burden falls on school administrators to align their practices with existing Ministry directives, even as the country awaits the passage of a law that could soon turn such violations from a matter of administrative reprimand into a criminal offence.
