CS Ogamba says no parent should pay for ongoing national exams

Appearing before the Education Committee on Wednesday, CS Ogamba stated that the government has ensured that the exams are administered at the Ministry's cost, and pending bills will soon be cleared.

He revealed that there is a deficit of Ksh.3.7 billion to properly manage the exams and clear all the pending bills, a matter he said is being fast-tracked through the Treasury

"As to why the payment to examiners is delayed is because of the exchequer release. We are trying to see that once the budgets are made for issues like exams, the budget is not slashed," Ogamba noted.

"We will make sure that the money is available, the payments are done, and the examinations are done seamlessly."

The CS therefore ordered that no parent should pay for any examinations and no school head should ask for payments from parents or guardians.

"No instruction has been given to any principal and heads of institutions to ask for money from the parents for examinations, which is a responsibility of the government," Ogamba added.

"I want to assure the committee that we will make sure that we get that money so that the exams are done, and we have no instructions for any parent to give any money for the exams to happen. That's the responsibility of government."

The KPSEA and KJSEA exams commence after KCSE, which began on October 21, 2025, highlighting Kenya’s continued transition from the 8-4-4 system to the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

KPSEA exams commenced on October 27 to 29, while KJSEA exams will be conducted from October 27 to November 3, 2025.

CS Ogamba said that the Ministry anticipates releasing KJSEA and KSEA results by December 2025 and KCSE by January.