Government to Continue Funding National Exam Fees for Candidates – CS Mbadi
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has reassured the public regarding the funding of national examinations, confirming that the government will cover the costs of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams.
His comments come in response to rising public concern over the government’s intention to phase out the national examination fee waiver, which has been in effect for the past ten years.
During a town hall meeting on June 9, 2025, Mbadi assured Kenyans that the government will finance the national exams for all students this year.
He explained that although the initial budget did not allocate funds for exams like the KCSE, the Treasury has since secured the necessary financing.
“Initially, we did not allocate funds for examination fees this year, but we have now made the money available,” Mbadi stated.
“I assure all Kenyan students that they will be able to take their exams. The government will cover the costs; we are simply restructuring the system.”
Previously, Mbadi had pointed to the unsustainability of the long-standing exam subsidy in light of increasing budget deficits as the reason for the proposed elimination of the waiver.
This change would have led the Ministry of Education to implement a differentiated fee structure, allowing only students from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue receiving exam fee waivers.
During the town hall meeting, the Treasury CS expressed concerns raised by the Cabinet regarding the high costs associated with administering national exams, particularly questioning why exam materials were being printed overseas.
“What happened was that, as a Cabinet, we could not agree with the amount spent on exams; we were puzzled as to why examinations were printed abroad when more sensitive documents like passports are produced locally,” Mbadi remarked.
He further explained that the Ministry of Education has been instructed to create a more cost-effective approach to conducting national assessments.
“The Ministry needed to develop a more realistic framework for administering and funding exams—rather than the Sh11 billion that was previously being spent,” he said.
The initial proposal to eliminate the exam fee waiver had ignited national outrage, with fears that it would impose a heavy burden on low-income families and exacerbate educational inequality.
The exam fee waiver was introduced in 2015 as part of the government’s initiative to promote free and compulsory basic education.
