Teachers threaten to snub National Exams over pending allowances

The union said that despite the National Treasury releasing funds, thousands of contracted professionals were still waiting to be paid for services they had already rendered.

KNUT officials led by National Chairman Dr Patrick Karinga, alongside Michael Muna and George Gatundu, cautioned that the continued delays could see teachers decline to supervise the national examinations slated for the end of the year.

The government allocated Ksh1.5 billion to settle the pending dues for invigilators and supervisors. However, the officials said allowances remained delayed for many teachers pending verification on KNEC's Contracted Professionals (CP2) system.

They noted that teachers had waited too long to be paid for their services and were now threatening to withdraw from the 2026 national examinations as supervisors and invigilators.

The officials spoke at Gatero village in Laikipia West Constituency during the funeral service of KNUT member and teacher Lucy Wambui Maina, from Nyandarua South, who died after a long illness.

Their remarks came days after Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa said the government would soon release pending payments for the remaining 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) invigilators and supervisors yet to receive their allowances.

Ololtuaa said the Ministry of Education was working closely with the National Treasury to finalise the payment arrangements, assuring the affected teachers that they would receive their dues once the process was complete.

The union officials also faulted the government over the teachers' health insurance scheme, claiming the Social Health Authority (SHA) was not serving teachers as well as previous cover had. They called on the government to establish a reliable health scheme commensurate with the service teachers render.