Kenya plans paperless exams to slash billions in annual printing costs
Dr Elyas Abdi with other stakeholders. Photo/Courtesy.
By KNA
The Ministry of Education is planning to phase out paper-based examinations across the education system in the coming years, in a sweeping reform aimed at reducing the billions of shillings spent annually on printing and administering national tests.
Dr Elyas Abdi, the Director General for Basic Education, said the ambitious plan would partner with the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to introduce electronic assessment of learners as part of wider reforms to streamline the education sector.
“Exams in this country have been an expensive affair, and paperless exams seek to address this in the coming years,” Dr Abdi said.
The council’s annual requirement for school examination and invigilation has been pegged at KSh12.5 billion, whilst budget allocations have repeatedly fallen far short of that figure.
In the 2024/2025 financial year, KNEC recorded a deficit of KSh3.7 billion in administering national examinations, a shortfall that nearly paralysed the body and prompted urgent intervention by Parliament.
Budget projections for 2026/27 show that administering school exams and invigilation will require KSh14.7 billion, yet only KSh9.9 billion has been proposed, leaving a deficit of KSh4.82 billion.
Part of the cost burden has historically been driven by the practice of printing exam papers abroad.
For many years, KNEC has outsourced the printing of examination booklets and optical mark recognition forms to foreign security printers, a practice that education stakeholders have criticised for being expensive and logistically cumbersome.
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