This archive report was first published on 1 September 2019.
On Monday, schools will open for the third term, marking the end of an academic year that has been filled with significant events in and outside learning institutions.
The rollout of the competency-based curriculum in pre-primary and lower primary has been a major highlight of the year. This is the first time the country has implemented a curriculum reform since 1984, when the 8-4-4 system was launched.
The implementation of the new curriculum has come with both successes and challenges. One of the notable events of the year is the Kenya Early Years Assessment, which began on September 13 and will conclude on the same date.
The assessment, conducted by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), was initially met with confusion and outcry, with many mistaking it for an examination. However, the issue has since been clarified, and the assessment has proceeded as planned.
According to an adviser at the Ministry of Education, the purpose of the assessment is to check the progress of learning. “It is like weighing a child when it’s born and progressively doing so in order to determine its nutritional needs,” he said.
Private schools appeared to fare better than public ones in the assessment, further widening the gap in academic performance between the two categories of learning institutions.
At the end of the assessment, experts at Knec will analyze the scores and provide feedback to stakeholders, including the Teachers Service Commission and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
Other significant events of the year include the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. This is the first time Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha will oversee the tests as minister, after having streamlined Knec and greatly reducing cheating.
However, the candidates will lose a week of their study time due to the adjustment of the school calendar to allow the National Population and Housing Census to proceed uninterrupted.
Teachers have raised concerns that the government has not supplied Social Studies and Religious Education textbooks for Standard Seven and Eight, forcing parents to buy them. The situation is worse for those in Standard Four, Five, and Six, who will have gone a whole year without reading materials in all subjects if the government does not supply the books in the coming two months.
