Teachers Protest “Too Tough” KNEC School-Based Assessments, Say Tests Are Beyond Learners’ Level
Educators warn of mass failure, learner stress and parental backlash, and ask KNEC to set papers that match what children can actually do
Teachers across the country are raising the alarm over the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) School-Based Assessments (SBA), saying the tasks are too difficult and pitched far above the level of the learners sitting them.
They are asking the council to be considerate and to set questions that reflect what learners have been taught and can realistically handle.
The complaints follow the release of the assessment tools for primary and junior school learners, which schools are now administering.
Grade 10 learners in senior school are also sitting their end-of-year KNEC SBA written tests before schools close for the holidays. In many schools, teachers say, the marking has produced results that are far below expectations.
“They Can Barely Write Their Names”
The most worrying accounts come from junior school, where teachers say the gap between the demands of the assessments and the abilities of learners is widest.
“In many schools, learners are seriously failing the tests,” one teacher said. Others reported that large numbers of learners are scoring far below expectations in several learning areas, and that some have scored zero.
Teachers say these are not isolated cases or the results of a few weak classes, but a pattern appearing across different schools and subjects.
One junior school teacher described the situation in blunt terms. In his class, he said, there are learners who can barely write their own names.
Asking such learners to work through multi-step tasks, interpret extended passages or apply concepts they have only briefly encountered is, in his words, setting them up to fail.
He called on KNEC to set concepts that favour learners, so that assessments measure what children have actually learned rather than expose what they have not yet mastered.
Teachers stress that they are not asking for tests to be abolished or for standards to be lowered into meaninglessness.
Their argument is that an assessment should reveal what a learner can do and show where support is needed. It should not leave a child with a zero and a sense of failure.
A Gap Between the Tool and the Classroom
Educators say the root of the problem is a mismatch between what the assessment tools demand and what happens in real classrooms. Under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), learners are meant to build skills gradually through activities, projects and practical engagement.
But many schools, particularly public schools with large classes and limited resources, say they struggle to deliver the curriculum as designed.
Teachers point to several realities that shape how much learners absorb:
- Large class sizes that make individual attention difficult, especially for learners still struggling with basic literacy and numeracy.
- Limited learning materials, including textbooks, digital devices and practical resources that many CBC activities assume are available.
- Wide ability ranges within a single class, where some learners are ready for complex tasks while others are still consolidating foundational skills.
- Lost learning time from disruptions, a crowded calendar and the pressure to cover many learning areas in a limited number of weeks.
When assessment tasks are written as though every learner has had ideal conditions, teachers argue, the results will inevitably be poor.
A paper that suits a well-resourced school with small classes can be unreachable for a child in an overstretched rural school.
Fear That Tests Are Setting Teachers Up
Beyond the academic concerns, some teachers have voiced a more suspicious reading of the situation. A number of them view the tough assessments as something like a planned attack, one that pits parents against teachers.
Their reasoning is straightforward. If learners fail in large numbers, parents will want someone to blame, and the teacher standing at the front of the classroom is the easiest target.
“Do you want parents to invade schools for the looming poor performance by the learners?” one teacher asked, pausing for effect. The question captured the anxiety many educators feel.
They worry that when report forms carry low scores or zeros, the anger of parents will fall on schools, with teachers accused of poor teaching and negligence for results they believe were driven by the design of the assessment, not by the quality of instruction.
Whether or not the tests were designed with such an outcome in mind, and there is no evidence that they were, the fear itself says something about the level of mistrust and pressure in the system. Teachers say they already carry heavy workloads and public scrutiny.
Poor results that appear to reflect on their competence could erode their morale and their standing in the community.
Parents, too, are in a difficult position. Many have been told that the new curriculum would reduce the exam pressure of the old system and nurture their children’s talents.
When a child brings home a score that suggests failure, confusion and frustration are understandable. Teachers say the sensible response is a conversation about whether the assessments are fair, not a confrontation at the school gate.
The Human Cost: Fear, Stress and a Turn Against Learning
Perhaps the most serious warning from teachers concerns the emotional effect on learners. Education practitioners say that if the trend continues, assessments beyond learners’ abilities could instill fear in them.
A child who repeatedly faces tasks they cannot complete, and who repeatedly receives low or zero scores, may begin to believe that they are simply not capable.
Teachers say the consequences can build slowly but seriously:
- Stress and anxiety before and during assessments, as learners dread another experience of failure.
- Depression and withdrawal, particularly among learners who compare their results with classmates and conclude they are falling behind.
- A negative attitude toward learning, in which school stops being a place of curiosity and becomes a place of embarrassment.
- Loss of confidence, which can persist long after the assessment and affect performance in later grades.
These concerns carry extra weight at junior school level, where children are still forming their attitudes to learning. Education specialists have long argued that early experiences of success build motivation, while repeated early failure can push children toward disengagement and, eventually, dropping out.
Teachers fear that assessments that make a child feel stupid at twelve or thirteen could shape how that child approaches education for years.
What the Assessments Are Meant to Do
School-Based Assessment sits at the heart of the competency-based approach. It is intended to track learners’ progress over time through classroom tasks and tools, rather than relying on a single high-stakes exam at the end of a cycle.
The thinking behind it is that a learner’s abilities are better judged through repeated, varied evidence than through one sitting.
KNEC’s release of assessment tools for primary and junior school is part of this system. The tools are designed to standardise how learners are assessed across the country, so that a score in one county can be compared fairly with a score in another. Standardisation is a legitimate and important goal. Teachers do not dispute the principle.
Their concern is with execution. An assessment that is standardised but pitched too high does not produce fair comparison.
It produces a long column of low scores that say more about the paper than about the children. Teachers argue that a well-designed assessment should distinguish between learners across the full range of ability, with accessible questions that let weaker learners show what they know and harder ones that stretch the strongest.
The Grade 10 Factor
The pressure is not confined to primary and junior school. Grade 10 learners, who are in the first cohort of the new senior school pathway in their respective year, are also sitting end-of-year KNEC SBA written tests before schools close.
Teachers say this adds to the sense of strain, as senior school learners face written papers at a point when schools are winding down for the year and both teachers and learners are stretched.
For these learners the stakes feel particularly high, because their results are tied to the pathways and opportunities that lie ahead.
Teachers warn that if the written tests prove as demanding as those at lower levels, many learners could finish the year with results that do not reflect their potential, and with little time left in the term to address gaps.
What Teachers Are Asking For
The protesting teachers have a clear set of requests, which they say are reasonable and constructive:
- Set questions based on learners’ ability. Assessment tasks should reflect the level at which concepts have actually been taught, not an idealised level the system hopes learners will reach.
- Consult teachers. Those who work with learners every day understand what is realistic. Teachers want a stronger voice in shaping the tools.
- Pilot tools before national rollout. Testing assessments with a representative sample of schools, including under-resourced ones, would reveal problems before thousands of learners are affected.
- Provide guidance and support. Clear marking schemes, examples and training would help teachers prepare learners and interpret results fairly.
- Treat results with care. Where scores are unusually low across many schools, teachers want KNEC to consider whether the fault lies with the instrument and to adjust accordingly.
Teachers also ask for public communication that helps parents understand what the results mean, so that low scores caused by difficult papers are not wrongly read as evidence of failing schools or failing children.
A Call for Balance
Education stakeholders agree that standards matter. A system that never challenges learners would fail them in a different way. But there is a difference between challenge and impossibility.
A good assessment stretches a learner within reach. A poor one places the goal so far away that the learner stops trying.
For now, teachers say, the evidence from their classrooms points toward the second. They describe children who sit down for a test with enthusiasm and leave deflated, and a profession that fears it will bear the blame. They urge KNEC to listen before the damage deepens.
“We are not against assessment,” one teacher said in summing up the mood in staffrooms. “We are asking for assessment that gives our children a fair chance.”
Whether the council responds with revised tools, clearer guidance or a review of the current approach remains to be seen. But with the school year closing and report forms about to reach homes, the debate is unlikely to fade soon.
