Education Ministry Tightens Rules On School Events Ahead Of 2026 Exams

Schools across the country will need to rearrange several of their usual activities as the 2026 national examination season gets underway, following new directives from the Ministry of Education.

A circular issued Thursday by Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa spells out fresh restrictions on prayer days, prize-giving ceremonies and Annual General Meetings, building on rules already in place for the exam period.

The reasoning, according to the circular, comes down to minimising disruption. “To facilitate effective preparation for and administration of these national assessments and examinations and to minimise disruption, the Ministry has deemed it necessary to regulate co-curricular, social and external-engagement activities throughout Third Term and the national assessment and examination period,” it reads.

Under the new arrangement, AGMs can no longer take place in Third Term; schools will instead need to hold them in First or Second Term. Prize-giving ceremonies, thanksgiving services and candidate prayer days have all been pushed to Second Term as well.

There’s also a tighter line on who can attend prayer sessions during the exam window itself. Parents, visitors and anyone from outside the school will be barred from candidate prayer days held during that period. Internal worship, the kind led by chaplains and teachers as part of the normal school routine, can still go ahead as usual.

Education officers won’t be taking annual leave during this stretch either, with the ministry cancelling leave outright for the assessment and examination period.

Regional, county and sub-county directors of education have been directed to roll out the changes, with the ministry framing the affected activities as ones that risk pulling candidates’ focus at a sensitive time.

The circular lands as exam preparations move into gear elsewhere in the system. The Teachers Service Commission has started selecting teachers for the 2026 assessments, Curriculum Support Officers are pulling together candidate details from school heads, and Sub-County Directors of Education have been told to get their lists of Centre Managers, Supervisors and Invigilators onto KNEC’s CP2 online portal by late September.

On the calendar, KPSEA written papers run October 26–28, KJSEA and KILEA from October 26–30, the Pre-Vocational assessment October 26–29, and KCSE stretching from October 19 through November 20.

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