The Kenya National Examinations Council is getting its logistics in order ahead of this year’s national exams, putting out a call for contractors to supply new storage containers for exam materials.
A tender notice released on Tuesday, August 11, invites bidders to submit sealed offers covering both the supply of the containers and any repair work needed alongside them.
“KNEC invites sealed bids from eligible Bidders for the Tenders below: Supply and delivery of Examination Storage Containers and related repair services,” the notice reads.
It’s a fairly routine-sounding procurement notice, but it marks an important piece of the puzzle as KNEC works through its preparations for handling and safeguarding this year’s exam materials.
This latest move comes roughly a month after the council opened up applications for teachers and tutors interested in training as examiners for both the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
That examiner training programme ran from July into August, structured around online coursework first, followed by residential sessions for whoever made the shortlist.
On the KJSEA side, KNEC was recruiting examiners across a broad range of subjects: English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Integrated Science, Agriculture, Social Studies, Christian Religious Education, Creative Arts and Sports, Pre-Technical Studies, and papers under Special Needs Education.
The KCSE recruitment drive covered its own list, including Kiswahili, Biology Practical, Islamic Religious Education, Computer Studies, French, German, Arabic, and several Special Needs Education subjects.
Once trained, these candidates will join the wider team of personnel KNEC calls on to mark exam scripts once marking gets underway in October.
All of this is unfolding against a slightly tense backdrop, though. Teachers’ unions have warned that educators might boycott this year’s exam cycle altogether if the delayed payments owed to 2025 examination personnel aren’t sorted out first.
Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa tried to calm those fears last week, telling the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Education that the outstanding payments were being handled.
According to Ololtuaa, the Ministry of Education had already released funds to KNEC, with payments to invigilators, supervisors and other exam staff set to start rolling out from August 6.
It’s still not clear whether every outstanding payment has actually been cleared at this point. Regardless, KNEC appears to be pressing ahead, now shifting its focus to the practical side of things, making sure the facilities and equipment needed to store and manage exam materials are ready to go.
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