Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has cautioned President William Ruto over the government’s move to scrap the Ksh5 billion national examination fees waiver.
Speaking on Saturday, May 24, in Lurambi Constituency, Kakamega County, Khalwale said that the move would lead to an increase in school dropouts among poor students.
"We are now being told that now our children who are supposed to sit for national exams, the government has overturned the free examination policy. Now the President says that starting next year, parents should pay for examination fees.
“My brother, President William Ruto, listen to me, don’t go down that road. Poor people will drop out of school if they are required to pay exam fees,” said Khalwale.
The UDA Senator highlighted that already the CBC curriculum and the new university funding model have led to poor children dropping out of schools and university, adding that the situation will get worse if the government scraps the national examination waiver.
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“We are already in a bad place. Because of the CBC, poor children have dropped out of school, and because of the complicated university funding model, poor children have dropped out of university. Now, if we are asking the poor to also pay for exam fees, it means we are trying to create a country that educates only the rich,” he stated.
Further, Senator Khalwale proposed that if the government wants to charge examination fees, it should target private schools and not public schools.
“Mr. President, sir, if you insist that children must pay exam fees, then let the children of the rich, in private schools, pay. But the poor children in public schools should be allowed to take exams for free,” the Kakamega Senator added.
This comes after the state announced that parents will not enjoy the national examination waiver starting in 2026.
The waiver was introduced by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration in 2015 as part of the efforts to enable the 100 percent school transition policy.
The Ruto administration is proposing that the government only pay the exam fees for needy candidates.
"We have to review the costs in the sense that we must ask ourselves, why should we pay examination fees for all students? You see, in 2026, Kenya is projected to have approximately 3 million students sitting for their national examinations, around 1.2 million anticipated to sit for KIPSEA, and over 960,000 for KCSE,” Treasury CS John Mbadi stated.
He continued, “If your child is learning in a private school where you pay KSh 300,000, KSh 1 million in a year, honestly, can't you pay KSh 5,000 for the examination fee for that child? Why should you force, make Kenyans, taxpayers, some of whom can barely eke a living, to pay an examination fee for your child?"
