The ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) faces the risk of disruption due to the government’s failure to allocate the necessary funds for transporting exam papers.

Various Sub County Directors of Education (SCDEs) across the country are now accusing the government of allegedly leaving them in a fix, a situation that has forced some of them to turn to their pockets to ensure that the exercise that commenced last week and is due to run till mid next month goes on.

SCDEs have found themselves between a rock and a hard place after the government advised them to fuel the vehicles from various petrol stations on credit as preparations were being made to disburse the funds by Wednesday last week.

By last week, some of the SCDEs were forced to spend their money to fuel vehicles as well as fund some logistics in the exercise.

Exercise disruption

And with the government failing to honour the pledge, most of the petrol stations have now threatened not to fuel the vehicles on credit as from today, posing the risk of the exercise being disrupted.

This situation has raised concerns about the smooth conduct of the exams, as any disruption in the transportation of examination materials could delay the entire process, leading to anxiety among students, parents, and education stakeholders.

Should the petrol stations go ahead to actualize their threats, the fate of the exams could hang in the balance from this morning as the SCDEs, Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) officials and head teachers could find themselves stranded without means to collect and return the exam papers usually stored in secured containers at the local sub county offices.

Transportation of exam papers securely is critical, as any disruption or delay could compromise the integrity of the exams.

“Exam papers must be securely delivered to prevent cheating or leaks, and any delay in transport due to lack of funding could affect the schedule and security of the exams,” one of the SCDEs in western Kenya told the People Daily last evening.

KNEC, which has been receiving a flat rate of Sh5 billion annually for examinations, is one of the government agencies affected by recent budget cuts as a result of the failed Finance Bill 2024.

According to KNEC timetable, today, the students are expected to sit English Paper One in the morning and Chemistry Paper One in the afternoon. On Tuesday, the students will sit Mathematics and English Paper Two while Wednesday they will sit Chemistry Paper Two and English Paper Three.

KNEC optimistic

Yesterday, KNEC chief executive David Njengere remained optimistic that the matter could be sorted out in time without jeopardizing the exercise. Njengere told the People Daily that the government had released 25 per cent of the funds to SCDEs mid-last month and is in the process of “securing and disbursing” the remaining 75 per cent.

“It is true that due to cash flow problems in the government, we are yet to remit the balance of 75 percent which we are working on at the moment. I can’t really state when this money would be released, but we are making all possible efforts to ensure that the exercise goes on smoothly,” Njengere said by telephone interview. Efforts to reach the director of Secondary Education William Sugut bore no fruit as he was not picking calls.

However, SCDEs and head teachers who spoke to the People Daily in confidence due to the sensitivity of the issue, revealed that the 25 percent funds released was meant to finance the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) which ended on Friday, October 25.

“That was money meant to facilitate KPSEA. The 75 percent that he is talking about is the money meant to oversee the KCSE exams. As we speak now, the government has not released even a single penny to facilitate the transportation of the exams. How do they want us to operate?” one head teacher in Nairobi questioned.

Ordinarily, each SCDE across the country is allocated between Sh200, 000 and Sh600, 000 depending on the size of the region and the number of schools there. 25 percent of the funds is usually used to fuel vehicles and other logistics in the administration of primary examinations, previously Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) while the remaining 75 percent is for secondary.

The papers are usually collected twice a day, first in the morning and then in the afternoon. Each paper is normally returned to the secured container depot once it has been finalized.

Certain disruptions

If the issue is not resolved quickly, it could result in a delay of the exams or even a cancellation of certain processes, depending on the severity of the disruption. Education officials and stakeholders are urging the government to act swiftly and allocate the necessary funds to ensure that the KCSE exams proceed without any hitches.

“If the funds are not made available quickly, there is a risk that exam schedules could be affected, delaying the start or end of the examinations. This would not only disrupt students’ preparation and results but also undermine public confidence in the examination system,” Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Vihiga branch secretary Sabala Inyeni told the People Daily.

Inyeni blamed the delay in the disbursement of the funds to poor funding of KNEC, an issue that he says should be addressed urgently to include better rates for all stakeholders involved in the management of the exams.

Inyeni says that if the government cannot fully fund the exercise, it should consider handing over the burden to parents and schools for purposes of efficiency.

“The government must adequately fund KNEC to make it undertake the examination exercise efficiently. The challenges we are witnessing today are as a result of the government failing to provide enough resources to KNEC,” Inyeni said.

The KUPPET branch boss cited the case of invigilators who are paid between Sh300 and Sh500 per day and the deputy centre managers, who essentially are school principals and who are never paid anything despite playing a critical role in the exercise.