KNEC issued Last Warning
KNEC issued Last Warning. Examiners must be paid within two weeks, or the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) will take over the offices of the examinations body.
The 50,000 examiners who marked the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam from last year, according to the union, have not yet received payment.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), according to Kuppet national chairman Omboko Milemba, was forced to pay the examiners before the two weeks were done.
The exams council has been given two weeks to pay the debts or risk the fury of the teachers. Kuppet would mobilize the examiners to occupy the Knec headquarters if the bills are not paid by the end of March, according to a statement from Milemba.
Examiners from St. Francis Mang’u Girls High School who were marking CRE Paper One in January withdrew their services because to unfavorable working circumstances and inadequate pay.
The professors asserted that they were paid Sh55 per script rather than Sh78.
Yet according to Milemba, despite significant sacrifice, the teachers have not received their just rewards.
The head of the Kuppets claimed that the government took teachers for granted.
“The examiners made significant sacrifices to serve their country in this important duty, but they were not compensated. The task followed a busy academic year in which teachers scarcely had time for breaks, he claimed.
Milemba, who is also the MP for Emuhaya, said that despite the teachers’ complaints going unresolved, they experienced bad working conditions, long workdays, and subpar housing in student residences.
“These issues have gone unaddressed for so long that some of the top teachers in the nation now grade exams as a form of torture. Before their complaints are handled, the examiners are frequently forced to use various forms of protest, he said.
According to Milemba, labor rules require that workers who provide their services be paid on time and in accordance with the work performed.
After the examiners completed their task, he charged Knec with breach of contract for failing to uphold its end of the bargain.
The government owes teachers a growing list of “pending bills” for work performed in “acting jobs” at all levels of responsibility, including the Knec dues. Teachers have actually given the government the most service that is still pending qualification, according to Milemba.