First, I would like to congratulate the 2018 KCPE candidates for the resilience they showed in their first eight years of schooling. The examination gives them a ticket to move to the next level in the education journey.
However, there are some key highlights we have to put into consideration in assessing learning in our schools beyond examinations.
Education being about the development of learners’ minds should be managed with absolute efficiency and enough resources allocated to ensure quality.
Instead, huge resources have been poured to manage an examination that has been masked as a life-and-death issue. Elaborate measures have been taken by the ministries of Education, Interior and all other authorities to stop cheating, thus overlooking the quality of education immensely.
The needs of learners undertaking the KCPE examination have not been met. The biggest challenge for teachers and education specialists is that most schools lack resources to conduct up to standard teaching and learning.
You walk into a school and the number of teachers, size and condition of classrooms show our diminishing quality.
Consequently, poor performance in KCPE should not be a barrier to entry to secondary education. All pupils should be encouraged to proceed.
The Ministry of Education ought to open up the conversation on quality of education enable achievement of the competency-based approach on pilot currently.
Let's make huge investment in education to manage the huge numbers we are churning out.
By doing so, excellence will follow and learners, and parents will be less worried about grades but will be pleased with the quality knowledge acquired.
There is so much pressure on students — examinations no longer assess whether the child has actually learnt or acquired any competencies. They only determine where the child is being placed, this university or that, or no place.
We need to reexamine this type of testing as it no longer serves its intended purpose.
More immediately, we need to ensure the playing field is even and no one gets access to these exams ahead of time to the disadvantage of others.
The Kuppet secretary general spoke to the Star