KCSE Results Processing Status 2023; Marking Halted at Mang’u Girls Following Examiners’ Strike
Latest Knec News Today; Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu attempted to calm down rowdy teachers at St Francis Mang’u High School on January 10, 2023. Unfortunately, the striking teachers gave him a deaf ear and chanted President William Ruto’s name. Outsmarted and feeling aggrieved, the CS lost his cool and ordered the CRE examiners to vacate the marking centers. It is our hope that the examiners’ grievances will be addressed. Last year, KNEC sacrificed some “rowdy” English paper three examiners. It is high time Knec improved working conditions for KCSE examiners since retiring them won’t help.
KCSE Examiners Stationed at St. Francis Mang’u Girls High School Down Tools
Striking KCSE examiners 2023 who disrupted the marking of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) papers at Mang’u High School have been ordered to leave the venue within 30 minutes.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu and Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang showed up at St. Francis Mang’u Girls School in response to the situation that had shown signs of getting out of hand.
However, the rowdy group declined to listen to the CS and instead chanted the name of President William Ruto.
Marking of the KCSE papers was stopped indefinitely after teachers involved in the exercise downed their tools decrying poor working conditions and low wages.
The teachers also complained about newly introduced precautionary measures in the process of marking during the Tuesday, January 10, exercise.
According to the tutors, the measures slowed down the process of marking hence taking them longer than expected to finish tasks. The teachers were marking the Christian Religious Education (CRE) paper at the time the strike kicked off.
In videos seen by the teachers claimed that the amount they were scheduled to receive was lesser than the expenses incurred while traveling to the venue and settling.
The aggravated teachers flocked the school compound on the morning of Tuesday, vowing not to continue with the marking exercise until their demands are met.
They also raised concerns about the marking scheme which they claimed was rigid.
Teachers who spoke to the press claimed that the examination council was using rates equal to those used in the 2010 examinations despite the changing economic conditions.
The marking process, which kicked off weeks after the candidates completed the national examinations in December 2022, had been ongoing at St Francis Mangu Girls High School until the strike.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu had indicated that the results of the exams would be released by January 23 when schools are scheduled to open.
If knec does not rescind, the examiners may delay the release of this year’s KCSE examinations.
Knec Examiners’ Payment Rates per Subject 2022-2023
The cost of marking Scripts of the learners varies from one subject to another owing to the unique format and nature of each subject and paper. In some instances, different papers in a given subject are also paid differently per script.
According to instructions seen by this writer a Christian Religious education (CRE) examiner will be paid a co-ordination fee of Kes. 150.00 per day, a basic fee of Kes 1,100.00, script fee at the rate of Kes. 55 per script and travel based on your workstation. The scripts rate takes care of all marking-related activities including and not limited to the actual marking of scripts, entry of scores on mark sheets, cross-checking, adjudication, and report writing.
Payments to all contracted professionals shall be taxed in accordance with the PAYE regulations/guidelines. Examiners will be charged a withholding tax of 5%for any payment above Kes. 24,000. Subsequently, only those who reach this threshold will be taxed.
English Paper III pays the highest among written exams, at Sh77 per script, while Biology Paper 1, Paper 2, and paper 3 examiners earn Sh52 per script.
Examiners marking Chemistry Paper 1, paper 2, and paper 3 earn an Sh52, per script while teachers marking Physics paper 1, paper 2, and paper pocket sh60 per script.
Tutors marking Christian Religious education (CRE) both paper 1 and paper two are paid sh55 per script. History and Government examiners are also paid sh55 per script.
A script of Computer paper 1 attracts a cost of sh 54. For computer paper 1 a teacher is paid sh65 per script.
Kiswahili paper 3 is one of the subjects that attract more shillings per script. Each examiner is paid sh 69 per every paper marked.
Supervisors and invigilators were paid during the month of May. The highest-paid Supervisor was paid a total of Sh12,510 while the highest-paid invigilator earned Sh9860.
Centre Managers for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, KCPE, exams pocketed a daily subsistence allowance of Sh500; for a total of 4 days (including rehearsal day). The exams were administered between March 7 and March 9 2022.
Secondary school Principals are expected to also earn a daily allowance of Sh500 for 18 days. The KCSE exams started on February 28, 2022, with the last examination day being April 1, 2022.