This archive report was first published on 3 May 2021.
On May 3, 2021, teachers marking KCSE exams at Moi Girls in Nairobi downed their tools and took to the streets to protest over unpaid allowances.
Armed with chants, the teachers decried their situation, arguing that they had resorted to the streets after the government failed to address their plight.
Police officers were seen trying to calm the situation in a video seen by Kenyans.co.ke.
The strike came at a time when Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha had declared that the ministry was on schedule to complete marking the KCSE results, with the results set to be released on May 10, 2021.
Magoha had previously warned of fake exam distributors, stating, "We experienced a number of cases where examination officials attempted to open the papers with the intention of exposing them to candidates before the actual examinations started. We thwarted these efforts in a few centers countrywide, some of which I released to you during my weekly briefs."
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) had initially warned the government that teachers would boycott the marking of KCSE exams if their needs were not addressed.
KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori had urged the government to release funds for teachers' allowances and expand exam centers to attain social distancing requirements.
"We had expected the government to have already made provisions that exam centers be expanded due to Covid-19 protocols. The current regime is that there's a lot of congestion among the teachers," Misori stated.
