Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) over the handling of Kenya Sign Language (KSL) in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results.
In a letter addressed to KNEC CEO David Njengere on Tuesday, January 13, the senator warned that unless the matter is urgently addressed, he will seek legal redress.
Omtatah pointed to KNEC’s subject classification under the 8-4-4 curriculum, noting that KSL is formally categorized as a technical subject, but alleges that this categorization was not applied uniformly when final results were computed.
"As per the KNEC's established subject categorization for the 8-4-4 curriculum, Kenya Sign Language (KSL) is listed as a technical subject under Category 5. However, it has come to my attention that its treatment in the computation of the final mean grade differed significantly between candidates," he said.
Omtatah then outlined unequal treatment between hearing-impaired and hearing candidates who sat the same examination, arguing that this disparity directly affected final aggregates for some students.
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"For hearing-impaired candidates, KSL was treated as a compulsory language subject alongside English and Kiswahili. For non-hearing-impaired (hearing) candidates, KSL scores were reportedly excluded from the final aggregate computation altogether, despite these candidates having registered for and sat the examination as a technical subject," he added.
Omtatah further argued that the alleged change in grading practice was carried out without transparency, consultation, or due process, and after students had already committed to the subject.
"This alteration in policy appears to have been implemented without prior notification to stakeholders, including students, parents, and schools; without any form of public participation or circular communication regarding the change; after students had already selected the subject in Form Two, registered for the examination, and completed their studies based on the understanding that KSL would be graded as per previous practice; and in contradiction to the established grading precedent for KSL since its inception as an examinable subject," he continued.
As such, Omtatah demanded a series of corrective measures from KNEC, including disclosure of affected candidates, re-computation of results, policy clarification for current students, and a halt to future registrations until the issue is resolved.
"Therefore, I urgently request the following actions from the Council, provision of data: that KNEC supplies, within seven (7) days, the total number of candidates nationwide whose 2025 KCSE results were affected by this inconsistent grading of KSL; recall and re-grading: that the Council recalls and re-computes the results of all affected 2025 KCSE candidates, incorporating KSL scores appropriately as a technical subject for hearing candidates, in line with the subject's categorization and prior practice; clarity for future candidates: That an immediate and clear policy directive be issued confirming that for current Form Three and Form Four students, KSL will be graded according to its established categorical placement without discrimination; and suspension of 2026 registration: that the registration process for the 2026 KCSE examination be temporarily halted until this matter is conclusively resolved and a clear, procedurally sound policy is communicated to all stakeholders," he stated.
Omtatah warned that failure by KNEC to respond satisfactorily within one week will trigger court action.
"Please be advised that the failure to receive a substantive and satisfactory response from your office within the next seven (7) days will leave me with no alternative but to seek appropriate legal recourse, including petitioning the High Court for necessary orders, to protect the rights and interests of the affected students," he concluded.
Elsewhere, earlier Tuesday, KNEC announced that the 2025 KPSEA and KILEA performance reports are available for schools and candidates to access.
The examination body issued a notice providing step-by-step guidelines on how candidates and educational institutions can access their results through the official portal.
"The 2025 KPSEA and KILEA performance reports are ready for access by schools and candidates," the notice read.
According to KNEC, candidates can obtain their performance reports by navigating the official web portal at https://kpsea.knec.ac.ke.
The second step is to input the candidate's Assessment Number and at least one registered name, then accept the privacy and access notice.
Once that is done, one can search for the reports.
The council noted that KILEA candidates have the option to collect their reports directly from their respective schools.
Additionally, KNEC clarified that schools can access detailed individual learner performance reports through the CBA portal at https://cba.knec.ac.ke.
