KNEC to explain why teachers who marked 2022 national exams have not been paid

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has come under scrutiny after teachers who supervised, invigilated and marked the 2022 National exams were not paid despite completing their work over four months ago.

Nominated Senator Esther Okenyuri sought a statement from KNEC over the delays in releasing payments and urged the government agency to provide a clear roadmap to ensure prompt payment for teachers who participate in future national examinations.

Okenyuri wants KNEC to come up with a clear roadmap to ensure that teachers who are engaged to mark the national examination in future get their pay on time since most of them were fearing being engaged for the tedious exercise only to be kept waiting for long before being paid.

"Kenya National Examination Council needs to tell us why it has not paid the teachers who marked the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam papers, we also want to be told measures put in place to avoid delays in future," said Okenyuri.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina said that when any government institution is owed money, they rush into charging penalties and interests and that the government should pay the teachers as soon as possible and that it was unfair for them to be denied what they have worked for.

Kina said that one of the solutions for the perennial delays in the payment of exam markers is to have part of the money paid by candidates for exam registration used to pay teachers and put in a special account so as to avoid the current scenario where it is not clear why there are delays.

He said to show how serious the matter is the motion should not only be approved by the Senate but also the National Assembly so that the houses can make a pronouncement on the thorny issue that has been affecting teachers from across the country who annually avail themselves.

"Members of Parliament will always raise their voices in protests whenever their sitting allowances delay, I empathise with our teachers who have to wait for months to get paid for an exercise concluded a long time ago, this is totally unfair and something must be done," said Kina.

Nominated Senator Beatrice Ogola that it was unfair that the results are already celebrated nationally and a number of candidates were happy about the outcome while the teachers who invigilated, supervised and marked the exams are yet to be paid several months later.

Ogola said the role teachers play in the invigilation and marking of exams is critical for the progression of the students from one level to another, yet KNEC continues to delay their allowances and that it was only prudent that given that they had concluded their work they should be rewarded accordingly.

The Nominated Senator said that it was a matter of great concern that teachers who are offering students the new curriculum have not been adequately prepared for the tough job ahead and that they need to be prepared to lay a good foundation for students by the relevant bodies.

"Our teachers play a great role in setting a good foundation for our children, the least we can do is to ensure that they are well remunerated for the services they offer, the government should not appear like it is out to make life difficult for them," said Ogola.

enyarangi@standardmedia.co.ke