The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) will carry out a pilot study in August to help iron out bottlenecks ahead of the planned Grade 6 national exams.
The piloting exercise, aimed to unearth the level of preparedness of Grade 6 learners, will be carried out in selected primary schools countrywide.
The piloting schools were selected based on various factors including geography and number of learners.
According to the pilot assessment schedule released by Knec the study will start on 28th and end on 30th September 2022.
The learners will also have a rehearsal day on 27th September before the official piloting assessment tests begin.
The learners will be tested in five subjects including Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Integrated Sciences and Creative and Social Sciences.
The pioneer Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) learners will sit for their final test in primary schools from 28th to 30th November 2022 before transiting to junior secondary in January.
Knec official timetable also shows that the learners will have a rehearsal day on 25th November before starting the tests.
The tests known as Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) will replace the outdated Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).
CS Magoha confirmed that the exams have been printed and are ready for administering in the end of this year.
KNEC Competency Based Assessment (CBA) Coordinator Ann Ngatia explained that Integrated and Creative Sciences will be an integration of various sub-subjects and that the five will be part of the KPSEA at the end of primary school.
“The exam will be a multiple-choice test covering the five papers. IS will see us combine science and technology and will cover Home Science, Agriculture, and Physical Health while CASS will combine Art and Craft, Music, Social Studies and religious education (CRE, IRE and HRE),” she noted.
The coordinator added that the primary school results will be determined by the School Based Assessment (SBA), which is done every year in the upper primary classes and the five-subject summative national examination.
“We will have a 60 per cent of the score coming from SBA spread over Grade Four, Five and Six and 40 per cent from the summative report so that we do not rely on a one-time assessment to determine the potential of the learner,” Ngatia added.
Ngatia expounded that the school-based evaluation will be done in form of projects, practicals, portfolios and oral assessments to allow learners to demonstrate what they have learnt, this will be executed by the classroom teachers guided by Knec.
On his part, Deputy Director for Secondary Education Lawrence Karundi noted that the Junior Secondary Schools will be domiciled in high schools. He also revealed that the Grade Seven to Eight students will be day scholars.
“When it comes to the issue of dormitories, especially with the junior secondary, our focus is that this should be a day school, not boarding. The transition will be in such a way that students join schools within where they are now, therefore, boarding may not be necessary,” Karundi stated.
Deputy Director in the State Department for the Implementation of Curriculum Reforms, Ruth Mugambi added that the Grade Six candidates will be placed into Junior Secondary Schools based on their performance, subjects chosen and the ability to join the day schools.
“Placement will be determined by the performance of the learners in Grade Six report and the optional subjects that they will have chosen. The students will be informed which schools offer the subjects within their proximity based on guidelines from the ministry,” Mugambi added.