Schools Have Until This Month To Administer Up To Five 8-4-4, CBC Exams

Primary school teachers will conduct more than four exams during the second term, which started this week. As learners resume for the shortest second term, pressure has mounted on both teachers and students.

Nearly three examinations should be taken in nine weeks by students using the Competency Based Curriculum, CBC, and 8-4-4. According to the timetable released by Kenya National Examinations Council, KNEC, Grades 3, 4, and 5 learners will be assessed from July 18.

“Schools will be able to access Grade 4, 5, and 6 practical subjects from July 18 to August 15, and should be uploaded by September 16,” the timetable reads.

The learners will be assessed in agriculture, art and craft, music and social studies, home science, physical and health education, and science and technology.

Teachers will be required to provide written exams to Grade 6 students from August 29 to September 9 two weeks after this is over. Before taking the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment in November, Grade 6 students will take this last exam.

During the same time, learners in the 8-4-4 system should have sat three exams before they close on September 17. Special needs education at the foundation level will be tested in activities of daily living, communication, and pre-literacy skills from October 30 to November 11.

“In the third term, Grade 3 learners will sit written tests in mathematics and English activities. Learners at the intermediate level in SNE will also be assessed during the same time and results uploaded by November 24,” the timetable reads.

Other assessments must be submitted by November 28 in order for the KPSEA administration to go smoothly. Grades 4 and 5 will take written exams for all 12 subjects at the same time. These include science, technology, English, Kiswahili, agriculture, home science, and Kenyan sign language.

Others include social studies, art and craft, physical and health education, and religious instruction in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The timeline, which was acknowledged by KNEC CEO David Njengere, also instructed that the evaluations be downloaded as soon as they appeared on the web.

According to Njengere, assessment materials containing colored graphics should be printed in color or stored on the school’s digital devices. Then, he explained, it would be up to the pupils to respond to the questions in their own answer books or separate answer sheets. The KPSEA answer sheet sample that the author saw showed that there are several choices.