Kenya’s El Niño School Preparedness Plan: What’s Being Done Ahead of the 2026 Exams.
Kenya is heading into its national exam season under the shadow of one of the strongest El Niño events forecast in decades.
With the Kenya Meteorological Department putting the probability of a very strong El Niño at 80% or higher for the October–December period, and heavy rain expected across more than 40 counties, the Ministry of Education has moved to lock in a nationwide preparedness plan covering schools, learners, teachers, and the exam calendar itself.
Here’s what’s actually been put in place, and what it means if you’re a parent, teacher, or candidate in an area at risk of flooding this term.
The Core Message: Safety First, Exams Will Still Happen
At a multi-agency preparedness meeting held on September 16, 2026, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba brought together more than 1,000 senior field officers, along with the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA), and the National Disaster Management Unit, to coordinate the response.
Ogamba’s message was direct: learner and teacher safety comes before school attendance, and no one should be encouraged to cross flooded rivers or roads to make it to class or an exam centre.
Basic Education Principal Secretary John Ololtuaa reinforced this, stressing that every school must know its specific flood and weather risks in advance, and reminding administrators of the existing government circular restricting outside functions in schools during third term so that exam preparation isn’t disrupted.
Importantly, none of this means exams will be delayed. The Ministry has separately and repeatedly ruled out postponing the national exam calendar.
As the Ministry’s Director of Administration put it at an earlier climate forum, national exams are administered on a “zero-sum” basis — every candidate nationwide sits the same paper at the same time, which is precisely why contingency planning matters more than rescheduling.
The 2026 Exam Calendar Colliding With the Rains
This year’s timing makes preparedness unusually urgent. The Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA, Grade 9) and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA, Grade 6) are scheduled to begin around October 26, with KCSE oral and practical papers starting in October and the main written KCSE papers running from November 2 to November 20. That entire window sits squarely inside the forecast October–December rainy season.
The Kenya Red Cross has assessed that 46 of Kenya’s 47 counties carry some level of flood risk this season, which is why the government’s response spans several agencies rather than the Ministry of Education alone.
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What KNEC Is Doing to Protect the Exams Themselves
KNEC’s role is specifically about getting exam papers safely to and from centres, even in areas cut off by flooding.
Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Njengere told the September 16 forum that the Council has significantly expanded its emergency storage capacity and requested more granular, area-specific forecasts from the Kenya Meteorological Department so that materials can be dispatched early to schools at risk of becoming inaccessible.
Beyond the emergency-storage build-up, KNEC has already been scaling up for a record year: the Council is administering assessments to an estimated 3.6 million candidates in 2026, the highest candidature in the country’s history, and ordinarily operates a network of more than 640 secure examination containers nationwide, guarded once materials arrive.
KNEC has also mapped examination centres by flood-risk level and built tiered contingency plans for each risk category.
For genuinely inaccessible areas, the government has said it is deploying additional helicopters, along with boats and drones, to move examination materials where roads are impassable. Njengere was blunt about where the line is drawn: no official should risk their life wading through a flooded river to deliver exam papers.
Beyond Exams: Water, Sanitation and Disease Risk
The preparedness plan isn’t limited to logistics. Field officers were directed to protect school drinking-water sources, keep handwashing facilities functional, and monitor sanitation closely once flooding occurs, since contaminated water systems after heavy rain are a known trigger for disease outbreaks in school settings.
Public health authorities are on standby specifically to respond to suspected waterborne and vector-borne disease outbreaks linked to the rains.
Dr. Salome Maina, the Ministry’s Head of Education in Emergencies, framed the underlying philosophy simply: prepared schools are safer schools, and prepared exam systems protect life while reducing disruption to learning.
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Don’t Turn Schools Into Shelters
One specific and pointed instruction came from the National Disaster Operations Centre, headed by Rtd. Col. David Samoei: schools should not be used as informal shelters for people displaced by flooding.
This isn’t a new concern — Kenya has previously seen school infrastructure damaged after institutions were repurposed as informal IDP camps during past flooding events, and the Ministry is treating this as a preventable risk rather than an acceptable trade-off.
Inclusion for Vulnerable Learners
Director-General for Basic Education Dr. Elyas Abdi emphasised that emergency planning has to be inclusive by design, not as an afterthought.
That means accounting specifically for girls and children with disabilities in evacuation and contingency planning, so that emergency response doesn’t inadvertently leave the most vulnerable learners behind.
What This Means for You
If you’re a parent or candidate in a flood-prone area:
- Do not attempt to cross flooded rivers or roads to reach school or an exam centre — this is the Ministry’s explicit instruction, not just general caution.
- Expect that your exam centre could be relocated if your usual route becomes impassable; KNEC has already mapped centres by risk level for this purpose.
- The exam will not be postponed nationally on your account — plan around contingency measures, not a hoped-for delay.
If you’re a school administrator:
- Confirm your school’s specific flood and access risks with your county education office now, before the rains intensify.
- Keep water sources and sanitation facilities monitored and functional; this is now an explicit part of the government’s emergency directive, not just routine hygiene practice.
- Do not allow your school to be used as a displacement shelter — raise this with local disaster management authorities in advance if you’re in a high-risk area.
The Bigger Picture
This preparedness push sits inside a broader pattern this year: Kenya’s education sector has spent much of August and September 2026 publicly rehearsing its response to a forecast that meteorologists describe as one of the strongest El Niño events in decades, precisely because it overlaps with the highest-stakes exam season on the calendar.
The message from every official involved — Ogamba, Ololtuaa, Abdi, Njengere, Maina and Samoei — has been consistent: prevention and mapping ahead of the rains, not scrambling once flooding starts.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Will KCSE, KJSEA or KPSEA be postponed because of El Niño?
No. The Ministry of Education has explicitly ruled this out. National exams are administered simultaneously nationwide, so contingency measures — not postponement — are the government’s response to flooding risk.
What should I do if my route to school or an exam centre floods?
Do not attempt to cross flooded rivers or roads. The Ministry has directed that safety takes precedence over attendance, and centres identified as high-risk have contingency relocation plans in place.
How is the government getting exam papers to flood-cut-off areas?
Through early dispatch based on granular weather forecasts, expanded emergency storage, and additional helicopters, boats and drones for areas that become genuinely inaccessible by road.
Are schools allowed to shelter displaced families during this period?
The National Disaster Operations Centre has specifically discouraged this, citing past damage to school infrastructure when institutions were used as informal displacement camps.
Kenya’s El Niño School Preparedness Plan: What’s Being Done Ahead of the 2026 Exams.
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