By Habil Onyango
The ongoing dispute between the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) appears unlikely to be resolved soon.
The conflict has escalated, culminating in an official directive from KUPPET urging teachers to boycott the administration and marking of the 2026 national examinations.
The stand-off at the secondary level involves the upcoming Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), with the union threatening to completely paralyse the process unless its demands are negotiated.
The union has been advocating for higher remuneration and timely disbursements, with members occasionally raising concerns or threatening to boycott due to low pay, poor working and living conditions, and chronic delays in payments.
The commission has petitioned the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to intervene.
According to KUPPET Secretary-General Akello Misori, union members will not participate in the marking of the 2026 examinations until payment issues are resolved.
Misori stated that they would not participate unless an agreement was reached with KNEC and the SRC on better allowances.
Misori criticised KNEC for what he described as “meagre” pay and allowances for teachers involved in examination marking.
“What we want as a union is for KNEC to sort out the payment issues of our teachers who will be participating in the marking exercise,” said the Secretary-General.
“We have directed our members not to take part in the marking unless KNEC establishes favourable payment arrangements,” added Misori.
He also alleged that payments by KNEC to teachers were even lower than what casual labourers earn per day.
Misori claimed that teachers are sometimes paid as little as KSh 30 per script, which he argued does not reflect current economic realities.
“How do you expect a professional who teaches future engineers, doctors or lawyers to earn less than a casual labourer per day?” he asked.
Union Chairman Omboko Milemba announced that they had already written to the SRC to resolve the payment dispute involving teachers and the marking process.
He called on the SRC to organise a meeting between KUPPET and KNEC to agree on a payment formula for those participating in the marking of the 2026 examinations.
“We have written to the SRC to arrange a meeting between us and KNEC to agree on the payment formula, or we will instruct our members to withdraw from any involvement with KNEC,” said the chairman.
KNEC maintains that examination marker payments are based on individual, binding contracts agreed upon by teachers before reporting to marking centres.
According to these contracts, KNEC considers marking fees and allowances to be contractual terms accepted by teachers before participation.
Misori also raised concerns about the country’s teacher shortage, stating that there was an urgent need to recruit more teachers.
He noted that despite the Government employing 100,000 teachers, there remained a deficit of 106,660 teachers.
The Government had promised to recruit 120,000 teachers by December 2026, marking one of the largest expansions of Kenya’s teaching workforce.
So far, 100,000 teachers have been hired since the Government took office, with an additional 20,000 scheduled to be recruited before the end of 2026.
