Teachers could sit out this year’s national examinations altogether if the government doesn’t move to raise what it pays them for exam-related work, the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has warned.
Speaking on Thursday, September 24, KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori said the allowances currently offered for examination duties don’t come close to reflecting the workload and responsibility teachers take on.
The union is pushing the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to revisit the rates paid to examiners, supervisors, invigilators, and centre managers.
Misori didn’t mince words when comparing the pay scale to other professions. “We want to remind the SRC to be on the frontline to safeguard the rights of the teachers or workers who undertake such projects. Imagine a centre organiser, who is a professional, is being paid below what a construction worker is being paid,” he said.
If the SRC fails to act, Misori indicated the union may instruct its members to stay away from exam-related assignments entirely, a move that would touch every stage of the national testing calendar, from the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) right through to the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
“Going forward, if it is not done, we shall be asking teachers not to undertake the programmes of managing exams, beginning with KPSEA up to KCSE,” he added.
The timing adds pressure to an already tight calendar. Schools and examination bodies are gearing up for the 2026 national assessment cycle, which is due to kick off in October, meaning any disruption from KUPPET could land at a particularly inconvenient moment.
Pay isn’t the only issue KUPPET has on its plate; the union has also aimed at the government’s approach to overhauling education legislation, specifically the six reform Bills currently in motion, among them the Basic Education Bill 2026.
Misori argued that the process is moving ahead of itself. “The current Education Bill being canvassed is being done outside the established law. It is outside the sector plan, outside a known sessional paper. You cannot legislate before developing policy,” he said.
His comments come as the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Education continues its countrywide public participation exercise on the Bill, a process that’s now been extended to October 2 so more counties can weigh in.
KUPPET has been openly critical of how the consultations have been run, questioning both the pace and the process, and had earlier called for the hearings to be paused altogether.
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