Teachers Threaten 2026 National Exams Boycott Over Unpaid Allowances

Teachers Threaten 2026 National Exams Boycott Over Unpaid Allowances

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has threatened to boycott the marking, invigilation, and supervision of the 2026 national tests due to late payment of allowances for the 2025 examination session.

Speaking in Laikipia West Constituency on Saturday, July 26, union representatives stated that teachers were yet to receive their invigilation and supervision payments.

This is despite the National Treasury giving Ksh1.5 billion to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to cover the payments.

The organization has warned that until the overdue dues are paid, instructors will be barred from participating in any examination tasks during the 2026 national exams.

“We want that money back. First, pay the invigilation allowances for the 2025 examinations,” a KNUT official said.

Teachers’ exam boycott threat:

KNUT threatens exam boycott over delayed payments

KNUT: Teachers yet to receive last year’s exam allowances

National exams set for two months away#CitizenWeekend pic.twitter.com/sou74TIVqE— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) July 26, 2026

“If that does not happen, don’t expect any teacher to participate in any invigilation or supervision in the year 2026.”

“From last year, teachers invigilated and supervised exams, all the national exams, and up to now they have not been paid,” the union added.

“And we are indeed perplexed when we hear CS Mbadi saying that he released that money, Ksh1.5 billion, to pay teachers, and it has not reached teachers.”

KNUT further criticised the continued reliance on system-related explanations for the delay, saying teachers were being forced to wait indefinitely for money they had already earned.

“We are tired of being told every now and then that the system has gone down, the system has broken,” the union said.

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The dispute comes as preparations for the 2026 national examinations gather pace, raising concerns that a prolonged standoff over the allowances could disrupt the examination calendar.

In June, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi confirmed that the money had already been released and that teachers were to start receiving their allowances.

PRESS STATEMENT: PAYMENT OF THE 2025 KJSEA AND KCSE EXAMINERS pic.twitter.com/dIgdzeuBcU— Julius Migos Ogamba, EBS (@HonJuliusMigos) July 9, 2026

Weeks later, Education CS Migos Ogamba, in a press release, confirmed that the ministry had started paying the teachers the allowances for the 2025 exam.

In a statement on Thursday, July 9, Ogamba announced that the KNEC had disbursed the balance of the marking allowances to examiners’ respective bank accounts.

“We are pleased to inform all examiners who participated in the marking of the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination that the balance of their marking allowances has been disbursed to their respective accounts by the Kenya National Examinations Council,” Ogamba said in a statement.

What had appeared to mark the end of months of uncertainty for thousands of teachers has now raised fresh questions over whether the released funds were ever credited to their accounts.

Teachers Threaten 2026 National Exams Boycott Over Unpaid Allowances