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Grade 3 pupils to sit national examinations, says Knec


Grade Three learners studying the new curriculum launched this year will now sit for national examinations before proceeding to the next level.

The Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) has announced it will change the mode of assessing learners and they will be subjected to continuous national assessments.

Knec Chief Executive Officer Mercy Karogo said a national assessment will be done at the end of each tier of education.

The new curriculum embraces a 2-6-3-3-3 system. It involves two years of pre-primary education; three years of lower primary and three years of upper primary; three years of lower secondary and three years of senior secondary; and three years in tertiary education.

FIRST NATIONAL EXAMS

Ms Karogo said learners will be subjected to the first Kenya national examination at Grade Three. This is unlike the 8-4-4 curriculum, where learners have been sitting their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education at the end of their year in Standard Eight.

She said that at the end of Grade Three, the learners will sit for the Kenya Early Years Assessment (Keya). They will be assessed in English, mathematics and integrated learning. The assessment will focus on integrating knowledge from different disciplines.

When setting national examinations, she said, emphasis will be on formative assessment that is carried out continuously during the learning process. The Knec boss urged teachers to nurture every learner’s potential by making use of a variety of assessment methods.

Ms Karogo said assessment will be more of a process of determining the capability of a learner to apply the knowledge, skills, attitude and values as they perform tasks.

“The ongoing education reforms call for a shift in the mode of instruction and assessment, with emphasis on the use of key inquiry questions for each topic,” she said.

ORAL TESTS

Apart from written tests, Ms Karogo said teachers can embrace oral tests for language proficiency, observation schedules, use of rubrics that give a qualitative description of what a learner is able to do, use of projects in a small way, use of portfolio assessment to gather evidence of learning over a given period.

On Monday, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said the new competency-based curriculum will transform the country by identifying the potential that children have and nurture them to the fullest possible extent.