Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has assured Kenyans that no parent will be asked to pay for their children to sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, even though the government did not allocate funds for the exams in this year’s budget.
Speaking during an interview on Ramogi FM on Tuesday, May 14, Mbadi explained that the decision to withhold funds for the KCSE exams was a result of past financial misuse by government officials.
He said the Treasury had allocated about Ksh11 billion every year for administering the national exams, but this money was often misused and not properly accounted for.
Mbadi revealed that the government decided to temporarily suspend the allocation in order to thoroughly review how the money has been used in previous years. He pointed out that one of the main concerns was the extremely high cost of printing exam materials abroad, particularly in London, which he said was unnecessary.
“We have not removed this funding so that parents can start paying,” Mbadi clarified. “No parent will be forced to pay exam fees.
We are simply evaluating several things, including whether it makes sense for the government to cover exam costs for every student.”
The Treasury CS went on to question why the government pays for exams for all students, even those whose parents can afford it. He also questioned why exams must be printed overseas, arguing that Kenya should be able to handle this internally.
“As a Cabinet Secretary, why should the government pay my child’s exam fees?” Mbadi asked. “And why must our exams be printed in London, England? These are just regular exams.”
He reassured parents that the government is working on a new system to ensure transparency and accountability in how education funds are used.
He added that once the review is complete, funding will resume, but with better safeguards to avoid the past mismanagement.
Mbadi’s remarks came shortly after strong criticism from the National Assembly’s Education Committee, which expressed concern over the government’s failure to include any funding for national exams in the current budget.
The committee, led by Chairperson Julius Melly, accused the Treasury of neglecting the education sector. They warned that omitting funds for such an important part of the education calendar could have serious consequences.
“Exams are a key part of the academic year and must take place annually,” Melly said. “But now you have presented a national budget with zero allocation for exams. How can that be justified?”
Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok responded to the concerns by acknowledging that there were indeed funding gaps.
He assured the committee and the public that discussions were ongoing between the Ministry of Education, the Treasury, and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to find a solution.
“We are currently in talks with the National Treasury to resolve this issue,” Bitok confirmed. “We want to reassure the public that plans are in motion to ensure the exams proceed as scheduled.”
Overall, while the budget did not include funding for KCSE exams this year, both the Treasury and Education Ministry have insisted that parents will not bear the cost and that a proper financial structure is being developed to avoid misuse in future.
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