Every year, as the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) marking season begins, the country’s online spaces erupt with familiar jokes – memes mocking teachers who trek to marking centres, posts ridiculing the supposed “meagre pay,” and sarcastic comments about the dormitories or halls where markers sleep. The humour may be harmless on the surface, but beneath it lies a tragic misunderstanding of one of the most significant professional responsibilities in Kenya’s education system.
Yet those who have walked into a marking centre, those who have handled a script with the full weight of a candidate’s future stitched within its pages, know an undeniable truth: in the teaching profession, many are called, many are trained, but only a select few are appointed to this sacred task. To be an examiner is not merely to mark. It is to safeguard integrity, uphold fairness, and serve as a custodian of national trust.
It is prestigious. It is desired. And for thousands of teachers, it is the peak of professional honour. It is a rare calling that is beyond monetary compensation.
Those who mock examiners often reduce the entire exercise to a mere pay, overlooking its deeper purpose. If KCSE marking were about money, halls would be empty, and KNEC would be scrambling for volunteers. Instead, teachers apply in their thousands every year, yearning for the appointment letter—the one that says you are trusted enough to handle the hopes of the nation.
Because being an examiner is not a casual assignment, it demands precision, emotional intelligence, fairness, consistency, and stamina. It takes a teacher who understands that they are not merely working through pages, but shaping the trajectory of a learner’s life. A misread response, a missed tick, or a misjudged error might alter a grade that determines university placement, scholarships, or career dreams.
How then can such a responsibility be measured purely through the size of an allowance?
Examiners know that they are carrying something weightier than cash. They are carrying destiny.
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In staffrooms across the country, nothing excites teachers more than the news of a colleague being appointed to mark. It is a badge of honour. When a teacher is called upon by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), it speaks volumes about their competence, experience, and trustworthiness.
It is, in many ways, an anointing. To be appointed is to stand out—not because one asked, but because one qualifies. Not because one is simply available, but because one is capable of handling a national responsibility with sobriety and integrity.
This is why teachers treasure the appointment letter. It is not just a document. It is a symbol of professional elevation.
Yes, marking centres are not five-star hotels. Teachers sleep in dormitories. They line up for meals. They work long hours, hunched over scripts. They endure heat, cramped spaces, and tight deadlines. But these are not signs of humiliation—they are signs of sacrifice.
The image of teachers marking under strict time schedules, working through fatigue, or sacrificing family moments, is not something to mock. It is something to honour.
Behind every grade that a student receives is a human being who chose accuracy over comfort, diligence over ease, and fairness over speed.
These are not “meagrely paid captives.” They are disciplined professionals who understand that their work is national service.
Despite the jokes and the discomfort, teachers still long to be examiners. Why?
Because KCSE marking is a masterclass, it sharpens a teacher’s content knowledge. It exposes them to marking schemes, national standards, and real-life patterns in students’ answers. An examiner returns to their classroom transformed: better equipped, more confident, sharper, and more aligned with national expectations.
Schools with examiners perform better—because their teachers understand how exams are set, how answers are assessed, and how learners should be prepared.
Thus, the marking centres may not be luxurious, but they are places of rebirth for professional competence. Every marker leaves richer in skill, sharper in judgment and wider in perspective.
That is a reward no allowance can match.
The sacredness lies in the trust. A nation places its children before the eyes of examiners. Millions of Kenyans—families, teachers, principals, employers—wait for the results that examiners are shaping. It is one thing to teach a class of 50. It is another to handle the hopes of 900,000 candidates with fairness and integrity.
Examiners carry this burden quietly. There are no cameras, no applause, no public ceremonies: just dedication, long hours, and the weight of silence.
They walk into a marking room knowing that the future is literally in their hands. Kenya must learn to honour its examiners. The memes may be funny, but they mask a more profound disrespect for a profession that shapes national outcomes. We should be celebrating these teachers, acknowledging their sacrifice and appreciating the noble duty they undertake.
Because without examiners, there is no KCSE. Without their precision, there is no fairness. Without their vigilance, there is no credibility in our education system.
So, to those who laugh at teachers marking exams, understand this:
Marking KCSE is not a retreat for the desperate. It is not a punishment. It is not about allowances. It is a prestigious responsibility carried out by the anointed few—those entrusted with the dreams of an entire nation.
As marking begins today across more than 50 centres, let us salute the men and women who sit with stacks of scripts, not for the love of comfort, but for the love of truth, fairness, and national duty.
They are the silent custodians of excellence. They deserve honour – far more than memes can ever offer.
By Ashford Kimani
Ashford teaches English and Literature in Gatundu North Sub-county and serves as Dean of Studies.
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