The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) now says that the marking of the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE) is proceeding as planned despite examiners at St. Francis Mang'u Girls High School downing their tools over poor remuneration and below-par working conditions.

The examiners, who are marking CRE papers, had staged a go-slow earlier on Tuesday on grounds that the center's chief examiner had introduced punitive policies which have slowed down the examinations' marking process.

They also decried lower remuneration as compared to their colleagues marking Kiswahili papers.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, KNEC Chairman Prof. Julius Nyabundi said they had already replaced the chief examiner at the St. Francis centre but insisted that its arms were tied in regards to revising the remuneration rates for the CRE examiners.

"Unfortunately, despite responding to their initial demand, a few of the examiners yet again came up with a fresh call that the marking fee be revised upwards... Since the issue of the examiner’s marking fee is an individual contract, and agreed to before reporting to a centre, the Council found it impossible to find an extra budget to revise the rates midway," said Nyabundi.

He said the council had resolved to allow examiners who have issues with remuneration to opt-out of the marking exercise.

"The Council, therefore, resolved to allow the examiners who were willing to continue with the marking process to do so uninterrupted. Equally, those who wished to exit the marking exercise were allowed to do so without causing further interruptions to the process," said Prof. Nyabundi.

He added: "In the meantime, the Council has invited trained examiners from its database to ensure the smooth progress of the exercise."