Grade 3 pupils to sit for a national exam before proceeding to grade 4

Grade three pupils under the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) will be expected to take the Kenya Early Years Assessment (KEYA) exam before they proceed to grade four.

This was announced by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) acting CEO, Mercy Karogo, during the CBC teachers training in Machakos.

The exam will be “administered in three assessments of English, Mathematics and Integrated Learning Areas, an assessment that integrates knowledge from different disciplines,” Ms. Karogo said.

The new (2-6-3-3) curriculum will expect students to take two years of pre-primary education, three years of lower primary and three years of upper primary, three years of lower secondary and three years of senior secondary, and three years in tertiary education.

The mode of assessment has also changed as teachers will now assess students throughout the learning process. This is to ensure that learners are applying the knowledge, skills, attitude and values they learn in class.

“Learners will be assessed using a portfolio assessment for about two months. Portfolio is a purposeful collection of learners’ work that shows effort, progress and mastery of a specified learning outcome or competency. It provides evidence of progress and achievement or mastery,” Ms. Karogo said.

The KNEC CEO encouraged teachers to use different assessment methods so as to accommodate and nurture every student.

“Apart from written tests, teachers can embrace use of oral tests for language proficiency, observation schedules as learners engage in learning activities, use if rubrics that give a qualitative description of what a learner is able to do, use of projects in a small way and use of portfolio assessment to gather evidence of learning over a given period of time,” the KNEC boss said.