The Kenyan government plans to discontinue its national exam fee waiver starting in 2026, shifting instead to a targeted subsidy model for national exams.
This means parents will generally be responsible for paying for their children’s national examination fees including the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), and Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA). They will have to pay unless they are identified as “needy” through a yet-to-be-detailed means-testing system.
John Mbadi, Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, announced the policy change, emphasizing the government’s focus on fiscal responsibility and fairness. He argued that parents who can afford high tuition fees for private schools should also cover examination costs, questioning why taxpayers should subsidize all students. Mbadi assured the public that funding for this year’s exams is secure, urging parents not to panic and dispelling rumors of financial shortfalls.
The examination fee waiver was initially introduced in 2015 by President Uhuru Kenyatta for public schools and was expanded to private schools in 2017, aiming to ensure free access to national examinations. Annual government funding for exams has recently increased from an initial KSh 4 billion to KSh 5 billion.
David Njeng’ere, CEO of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), supports a per capita funding approach over general grants, acknowledging the financial challenges posed by rising candidate numbers.
However, the proposed policy shift has already raised concerns. Silas Obuhatsa, Chair of the National Parents Association, called for extensive public participation, warning that some children might be forced out of school due to their inability to pay exam fees. He drew parallels to the contentious university funding model implemented in 2023, which has faced significant implementation difficulties and legal challenges.
In February, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) highlighted that the current Ksh. 5 billion annual allocation for examination fees has been insufficient to cover KNEC’s budget deficits, particularly with increasing enrollment. The PBO proposes a cost-sharing arrangement between the government and parents, suggesting that the Ksh. 5 billion currently allocated could be redirected to other critical areas within the education sector.
The broader education sector in Kenya faces a substantial Ksh. 91 billion funding deficit, impacting capitation, loans, and scholarships. This deficit is largely attributed to increased enrollment under the 100 percent transition policy.
Current annual government allocations for capitation are Ksh. 1,420 per primary school learner under the Free Primary Education (FPE) program, and Ksh. 15,042 per junior school student. For secondary education, the annual capitation is Ksh. 22,244 per learner, though this amount was recently reduced to approximately Ksh. 15,000 per year. Capitation to schools is typically disbursed in three phases throughout the academic year. In March, schools received the remaining Ksh. 14 billion in capitation funds for the first term.
The Ksh. 91 billion education sector deficit is broken down into significant funding gaps across various levels:
- Primary schools: Ksh. 661 million
- Secondary schools: Ksh. 16 billion
- Junior secondary education: Ksh. 15 billion
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions: Ksh. 3.6 billion
- University scholarships: Ksh. 5.3 billion
- Education loans: Ksh. 11.4 billion
- Continuing students’ capitation: Ksh. 33 billion
To mitigate these shortfalls, the PBO recommends consolidating and redirecting existing resources, including bursaries, to areas with the greatest impact. Annually, national and county governments allocate Ksh. 20 billion to bursary programs. However, the PBO points out that the fragmented management of these funds leads to inefficiencies and an opaque picture of overall resource needs. The PBO proposes streamlining bursary allocations and suggests capping the number of tertiary students receiving bursaries based on more equitable selection criteria, arguing that this could help address critical funding gaps in TVETs and secondary schools.