Pupils of Ochok Kadongo primary school in Kisumu. Picture: Jacob Owiti
Kenya has lined up a raft of reforms for its education sector which could see it scrap terminal primary school examinations.
If proposals by the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) are implemented, a single examination will no longer be the only determinant for a place at secondary school.
KIE also proposes the reduction of learning in primary school from eight years to six years, to conform with international standards and give pupils more learning time at secondary level.
Majority of East African countries use one examination at the end of primary school to separate “the wheat from the chaff” — those who will continue into secondary school, and those who will terminate their formal schooling at this levels.
In Kenya, that exam is the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), done at the end of eight years of schooling. In Uganda, the Primary Leaving Examination is carried out at the end of Primary 7 while in Tanzania it is the Primary School Leaving Examination at the end of seven years of primary school.
KIE proposes that school-based continuous assessment test should replace KCPE, which would “de-emphasise exams in the education system and teachers will concentrate on teaching rather than preparing learners for terminal exams,” according to KIE director Lydia Nzomo. The school-based exams will be used to determine learning outcomes — how much a pupil has grasped of the required subject matter— but not to lock pupils out of secondary school.
Kenya could thus emulate Rwanda’s Nine Year Basic Education programme, which expanded its definition of basic education to include secondary school, while simultaneously expanding secondary facilities — resulting in a dramatic jump of primary to secondary transition rates from 55 per cent in 2007 to 95 per cent in 2009.
Primary education is six years in Rwanda and three years in lower secondary. Under the programme, pupils remain at their primary schools for the three years of junior secondary school, and then leave to join A-levels in other schools.
In practice, this has meant the building of classrooms at primary schools which would be used as the “secondary section,” as well as building facilities that are essential for secondary level.
In Rwanda and Uganda, lower secondary education is free while in Kenya and Tanzania it is subsidised. An examination of the numbers shows a correlation between financial barriers to education and transition rates: Rwanda leads the region at 95 per cent, and Uganda’s transition rate stands at 72 per cent. In Kenya, however, transition rates stand at 67 per cent, ahead of Tanzania’s 50 per cent and Burundi’s paltry 32 per cent.
If KIE’s proposal is approved and passed, then the Ministry of Education will have to seek urgent measures to double the secondary school admissions to allow in 741,000 more students— which will translate into the building of more schools, classrooms, dormitories and laboratories.
The proposed scrapping of KCPE has elicited mixed reactions. On the educational blog shulebora.com, those in favour argue that too much emphasis is placed on passing the exam, which has resulted in rote learning at the expense of critical thinking.
Those against the proposal argue that pupils can only be serious with academic work if examined, and that continuous school-based assessment is prone to manipulation by teachers.
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