Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has written to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) demanding an immediate regrading of the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results over what he termed unfair and discriminatory treatment of Kenya Sign Language (KSL).
In a formal letter addressed to the KNEC Chief Executive Officer and received on January 13, 2026, Omtatah raised concerns over how KSL was handled in the computation of final mean grades for different categories of candidates.
The senator stated that while KNEC classifies KSL as a technical subject under Category 5 of the 8-4-4 curriculum, its grading was applied inconsistently across candidates who sat the 2025 KCSE.
According to Omtatah, KSL was treated as a compulsory language subject for hearing-impaired candidates, alongside English and Kiswahili; however, it was excluded from the final aggregate score for hearing candidates who had registered for and sat the examination as a technical subject.
He argued that the exclusion was implemented without prior notice, public participation, or any formal circular to schools, parents, or candidates, despite students having selected the subject in Form Two and completed their studies under the expectation that it would count toward their final grade.
Omtatah noted that the move marked a departure from the long-standing grading practice applied to KSL since it was introduced as an examinable subject by KNEC.
He said the post-examination policy shift violated the principles of fairness, legitimate expectation, and inclusive education, warning that it unfairly disadvantaged candidates who selected the subject in good faith.
The senator added that schools had invested resources in employing trained KSL teachers and allocating instructional time based on existing policy guidelines, only for the rules to change after the examinations had been done.
“Exams must be fair. Rules cannot change after the fact,” Omtatah stated in his communication.
In the letter, he demanded that KNEC provide data within seven days on the total number of candidates affected by the inconsistent grading of KSL in the 2025 KCSE.
He also called for the recall and recomputation of results for all affected candidates, with KSL included appropriately as a technical subject for hearing candidates in line with its established categorisation.
Further, Omtatah demanded that KNEC issue an immediate and clear policy directive to guide current Form Three and Form Four students on how KSL will be graded in future examinations.
He additionally urged the council to temporarily suspend registration for the 2026 KCSE examination until the matter is resolved, warning that failure to act within seven days would prompt him to seek legal redress through the High Court.
