Government and Policy

Parents To Start Paying Exam Fees As Government Scraps Decade-Long Waiver Policy

BY Getrude Mathayo · May 26, 2025 12:05 pm

Beginning next year, parents will be required to start paying for their children’s national examination fees, marking the end of a nearly decade-long government policy that covered the costs of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.

The government has formally confirmed this major shift in policy, citing financial strain and competing priorities within the education sector as reasons for phasing out the long-standing examination fee waiver.

The decision, which has been the subject of public speculation and growing concern among parents, was clarified over the weekend by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi. He explained that while the waiver will remain in place for candidates sitting their exams in 2025, it will be discontinued starting in 2026, meaning parents will begin shouldering the financial responsibility from then on.

Speaking in an interview with NTV, CS Mbadi defended the government’s move, pointing to the escalating costs associated with funding universal exam coverage. He noted that with rising enrollment numbers and growing fiscal deficits in the education sector, continuing the blanket subsidy had become unsustainable.

“We have to review the cost. Why should we pay for examinations for all students, including those in private schools?” he asked. “We should be subsidising examination fees for those who cannot afford them, especially learners in public schools.”

Mbadi further emphasized that while there is no budgetary allocation for examination fee waivers in the 2025/26 financial year, the government is committed to ensuring that no candidate misses exams in 2025 due to financial constraints.

“For this year, it’s too late. We are going to process examinations for all candidates, whether you can pay or not,” he stated.

Looking ahead, Mbadi revealed that the Ministry of Education is expected to develop a more targeted model that provides examination subsidies only to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The new framework will aim to identify and support candidates from low-income households while requiring more affluent families, including those whose children are enrolled in private schools, to bear the full cost of examination registration.

“If today my child is doing KCSE and the government pays for that child, and it’s the child of a Cabinet Secretary, why should that be the case?” Mbadi questioned. “We cannot afford to subsidise people who don’t need the subsidy.”

Although specific figures have yet to be officially released, Mbadi mentioned a possible fee of around Sh5,000, though he stressed that the final amount and implementation structure will be determined by the Ministry of Education in due course.

The examination fee waiver was first introduced in 2016 by the then Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i. It was hailed as a landmark policy aimed at ensuring equitable access to national examinations by eliminating financial barriers, particularly for students from marginalized or low-income communities.

Under the current arrangement, the government covers the entire cost of exam registration — an amount that stands at Sh7,200 per KCSE candidate. The policy has played a key role in enabling thousands of students across the country to sit their final national exams without the fear of being locked out due to non-payment.

However, a recent analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) advised the government to scrap the universal waiver, arguing that the growing number of students and increasing exam-related expenditures had rendered the policy unsustainable. The PBO noted that the education sector is currently facing a Sh91.8 billion funding shortfall, making it difficult to maintain programs that do not prioritize the most vulnerable populations.

PThe PBO has proposed a cost-sharing model, where the government supports only the most needy candidates while parents of children from better-off households contribute to exam costs. According to the office, this model could free up at least Sh5 billion annually, funds that could be redirected to other pressing needs in the education sector, such as capitation grants, school infrastructure, and teacher recruitment.

Despite growing criticism and concerns about equity, Mbadi was adamant that the proposed model would not deny any child access to education or examinations. “All children will get basic education; the government will facilitate that. But those who are capable of providing education to their children should do so,” he asserted. “In any case, they are already provided in private schools and many other places. When it comes to examinations, why then should you surrender that responsibility to the government?”

The announcement is expected to spark a fresh round of public debate, with many education stakeholders likely to question the implications for access and equality, especially given the rising cost of living and financial burden already facing many Kenyan families.

Critics have raised concerns that introducing fees may lead to a resurgence of cases where candidates are barred from sitting national exams due to unpaid fees, a problem the waiver had successfully addressed for years.

Nevertheless, the government maintains that the policy overhaul is necessary for the sustainability of public education financing. It remains to be seen how the Ministry of Education will operationalize the new subsidy model, determine the eligibility criteria, and safeguard the principle of universal access to education, especially during a time of economic hardship for many households.

As the transition period begins, parents are being urged to prepare for the new cost-sharing regime, even as calls grow for greater transparency and fairness in how the policy will be implemented.