Senior Government Officials on The Spot Over National Exams

Senior government officials pocketing huge allowances from the ongoing national examinations found themselves on the spot as concerns were raised over their involvement in the examinations.

The officials, among them Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Chief Administrative Secretaries are usually accompanied to various examination centres by staff who are also entitled to allowances.

10 Cabinet Secretaries and the heads of several state departments are among special monitors for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations which kicked off on October 30.

The Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) questioned the necessity of involving senior officials in the examinations.

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) had previously argued against the practice with Chairman Omboko Milemba stating that the visits only served to pile more pressure on candidates.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, DP William Ruto, Education CS Amina Mohammed and Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Chair George Magoha are among government officials spotted at various schools since the exams began.

KUPPET had also termed the trips an excuse for PSs and CSs to spend money as the officials were not needed at examination centres.

Other special monitors are drawn from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Secondary Schools Heads Association, Private Schools Association, Primary School Heads representatives, KUPPET representatives, the National Parents Association and Special School Heads representatives.

With KNEC given a Kshsh4.2 billion budget for the exercise, Kshs2 billion was set aside for teachers marking the papers and Sh1 billion for centre managers, security, invigilators and supervisors.
 
The rest is meant to be used in case of any emergencies that may arise.