Teachers who have been marking the Kenya Certificate Of Secondary Education (KCSE) Striked today, disrupting the marking of the remaining papers at Mang’u High School were ordered to leave the venue within 30 minutes.
Cabinet Secretary for Education 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.
Image: Curtesy
However, the uncompromising group declined to listen to the CS and instead chanted the name of President William Ruto.
This prompted the Marking of the KCSE papers to be stopped indefinitely after teachers who were involved in the exercise downed their tools, complaining of poor working conditions and low wages.
They further 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.
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 angered teachers flocked the school compound on the morning of Tuesday, threatening 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, and that the examination council was using rates equal to those used in 2010 examinations despite the changing economic conditions.
The process of marking 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.
CS Ezekiel Machogu had earlier hinted that the results of the exams would be released by January 23 when schools are scheduled to open.
