Ministry Asked to Cancel KPSEA Examination
As national examinations approach, the Ministry of Education has been urged to eliminate the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment ( KPSEA) for sixth grade.
Emmanuel Manyasa, the executive director of Usawa Agenda, told Citizen TV on November 23 that he had told the task force that KPSEA was not an essential part of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Manyasa criticized the purpose of exams as a whole and said that a lot of money is wasted on something that doesn’t make people who are good for society.
“We should not have KPSEA for grade 6 because it is supposed to contribute 40 percent of their total score the other 60 percent is fictitious,” he stated.
According to Manyasa, the exam is one of the most wasteful things we do in Kenya.
“I will not be surprised to see the CSs walking around supervising exams and we have never been told how much is spent on them, to invigilate exams,” he added.
Manyasa also questioned the integrity of the online grades recorded by teachers, claiming that some instructors entered fabricated grades to meet the deadlines.
He said teachers did not take the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) seriously because they did not believe it would be implemented but eliminated.
He noted that the marks they submitted for grades three, four, and five, which should account for sixty per cent, are fictitious; therefore, the KPSEA with a forty per cent score is meaningless.
The director of the Usawa Agenda proposed as an alternative that Grade 6 students should either remain in elementary school or transfer to sub-county secondary schools.
Moreover, Manyasa asserted that during the launch of the CBC, the former president assured Kenyans that there would be no exit exam during the transition to junior secondary.
“There will be no examinations in Standard Six, which shall ensure that we now have 100 per cent transition from primary through to secondary school,” former president Uhuru stated on August 16, 2019, during the third national conference on curriculum reforms at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
Students are expected to take the KCPE examinations from November 28 to November 30. In contrast, the KCSE will be held from Friday, December 2, to Friday, December 23.
On Thursday, November 17, the Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, reassured parents that the government was fully prepared to administer nationwide national exams.
He pledged to adopt a multidisciplinary strategy to ensure the integrity of national examinations.
Ready For Exams
The County Director of Education (CDE) for Tharaka Nithi, Bridget Wambua, has disclosed that the county is well-prepared and ready for the upcoming national examinations.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) will begin between November 28 and November 31, while the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) will begin between November 21 and December 23 with the English paper.
She disclosed that some secondary school practical examinations have begun since Monday, November 21.
The County Director of Education informed the media that all stakeholders involved in administering the examinations have been trained and are prepared for the task.
“We have already briefed and trained center managers, supervisors and invigilators who will be involved in conducting the examinations,” she said.
Wambua revealed that there are 492 KPSEA centres, 430 KCPE centres, 159 KCSE centres, and ten adult centres throughout the county.
The CDE found a similar education gap between boys and girls, with only a slight difference on all exams, an improvement from previous years.
The total number of candidates taking exams in the county is 36,880, with 11,458 sitting for the KPSEA, 12,773 for the KCPE, 12,580 for the KCSE, and 72 from the Adult Centre.
She assured me the government had taken the necessary precautions to ensure no exam cheating. She cautioned students against accessing exam materials for answers before examinations.
“What you have learnt so far is enough, believe in yourself and do whatever you can, we will take serious action on those who will be found cheating,” she said.
Wambua instructed exam monitors to be highly vigilant and not tolerate any cheating.
She urged parents, particularly day-scholars, to be cooperative and ensure that their children submit their papers on time.
“Parents should ensure the students are well fed and have had enough sleep to enable them start the exams on a good note,” she said.
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