Is Kenya shooting itself in the foot by over-reliance on end-year tests?

The dominant debate in education circles this week revolved around the just released report on the performance of pupils in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams.

Of particular concern was an English composition that has been doing the rounds on social media, and which the Kenya National Examinations Council judged as one of the worst written last year.

One person following this conversation keenly is James Mbugua, a 21-year-old who is planning to resit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams next month, when his knowledge of a four-year syllabus will be tested.

It is unfair, he knows, but that is the system. Like the poor pupil who wrote that English composition, all he has learnt in his life, all his intelligence, all his capacities, will be assessed based on what he puts on paper.

A few weeks ago, James sat the KCSE mock examinations in which he attained a C grade.

DOWN THE DRAIN

He is aware of the harrowing statistics from last year’s KCSE results: out of the 445,514 students who sat the exam last year, he was not one of the 123,365 students who attained a C+ or above.

This effectively derailed his dreams of enrolling for an undergraduate course at a public university in Kenya.

One standardised national examination, hundreds of thousands of dreams down the drain.

Which begs the question: Are we setting realistic standards for students and giving them a fair chance to realise their dreams?

What was the fate of the 322,149 students who did not get a place in public universities last year? This debate is not alien to the Kenyan government.

In the Ministry of Education’s Sessional Paper No 14 of 2012, researchers observed that “the current summative assessment at the end of primary and secondary cycle does not adequately measure learners’ abilities, while school-based assessment is not standardised”.

UNDERSTAND THE STAKES

In addition, there was concern that these factors subsequently influence the approach to teaching by teachers, who focus on tailoring their teaching and learning process towards examinations rather than to “assessment of attainment of skills and competences”.

As hundreds of thousands of students across the country struggle to juggle a wide range of subjects, each with a wide and tasking curriculum, they are aware that only a handful of them will attain places at Kenya’s most sought-after secondary schools and universities.

This is a fear shared by the parents and guardians of these learners, who understand the stakes at hand only too well.

Most students take part in societies and clubs while at school such as drama, debating, social welfare, Young Christian’s Association, art and choir.

Moreover, they participate in numerous sporting activities such as swimming and football.

There is no room on their result slips to account for this once their examination results are announced.

The entry prerequisites for a place at a secondary school or university in Kenya are primarily based on the average grade attained by a student in the KCPE and KCSE examinations.

BRITISH SYSTEM

Skills and talents of students continue to be considered secondary to subjects such as mathematics and science, which many, like James’ family, are obstinate will secure them a white-collar job; their only solution to better living standards.

It is for this reason that Atwal Adwok’s parents decided to opt for a school offering the British system of education when he was in Standard Seven rather than one offering the Kenyan 8-4-4 system of education.

At only 19 years of age, Atwal runs two recording studios — one at home and the other in his apartment near the Daystar's Athi River campus, where he is studying communications in electronic media.

“I haven’t looked back since I joined an international school. With the help of my brilliant music teacher I gained invaluable exposure and training in music.

“I had an opportunity to gain work experience with my current mentor at his studio, which would not have happened if I had continued studying the 8-4-4 system,” he says.

Atwal compares Kenya’s education system to a scenario comprising of three different animals — an elephant, a fish and a monkey.

“Each of these animals has varying capabilities. If you told all of them to climb a tree, then only the monkey would succeed. However, if you put all these animals in water, the fish would have a higher chance of survival,” he says.

As Albert Einstein said, “everybody is a genius, but, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid”.

CHANGING TERM DATES

Is the Kenyan government doing enough to reform and improve the current mode of assessing students? John Awiti, the chairman of the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association, does not think so.

“It is only the few gifted students at schools who benefit from the current mode of assessment. When reforming our education system, we should not just focus on changing term dates to suit the government’s budget, but also improve our curriculum,” says Awiti.

“Currently, a student’s competence is based on a two-hour exam which tests the whole syllabus rather than comprehensively assessing students’ skills and abilities throughout their tenure at school.”

According to a briefing paper in 2013 by the African Population and Health Research Centre, there is a need for an amendment of the existing law to allow assessment of pupils at various grades using nationally standardised tests before the end of the primary school cycle.

Dr Joseph Kivilu, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya National Examinations Council, points out the importance of the use of national examinations.

“Numerous tests and projects are administered to students throughout their tenure at primary and secondary schools. The national examinations then provide an overall assessment of the student’s competence,” he says.

EXPRESS CONCERN

Despite this, he agrees that there is an unhealthy prominence of the use of national examinations.

Due to this, he explains that teachers tend to pay little attention to the values and skills that children are intended to acquire and also use unethical drilling methods and unacceptable methods of teaching their students.

Dr Kivilu cites the difficulty in standardising the grading of CATs as a major obstacle to reforms in this area.

“Teachers need to be more sincere in the grading of continuous assessments tests in their schools for such a reform to be efficient and effective,” he says.

Musau Ndunda, the secretary-general of the Kenya Parents Association, expresses concern that the current system of education does not identify students' needs, talents and skills.

“There needs to be a total overhaul of the current education system. There is no psychometric assessment carried out to assess students’ careers before they join universities.

“We now have a (large) number of students who graduate without knowing their potential as well as what sectors they are suited for,” says Ndunda.

SHARP CONTRAST

He insists that the way forward is to have continuous assessment tests at various stages of education such as after every four years of primary education and after every two years of secondary school education. 

In sharp contrast to the current mode of assessment in Kenyan schools, students in countries such as the US are considered for admission into universities based on several criteria, including a student’s high school course of study, high school Grade Point Average (GPA), participation in extracurricular activities, SAT or ACT exam scores, a written essay, and possibly a personal interview.

In 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Education launched major reform efforts to reduce the importance of testing in schools.

The developments are expected to curb an over-reliance on standardised tests which “severely hamper student development as a whole person, stunt their healthy growth, and limit opportunities to cultivate social responsibilities, creative spirit, and practical abilities in students”.

This is part of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development from 2010 to 2020 which aims to terminate the practice that a single round of examinations decides the destiny of a student.

MOST EFFECTIVE

Ndunda adds that it is vital that technical colleges are not made secondary to universities, and is adamant that the education system should be diversified to ensure that talents are nurtured.

“There are numerous people who utilise their skills and talents as a source of livelihood. We need to encourage our children to engage in sports and arts from an early age,” he says.

This year, only 57,000 students will be admitted into public universities while only 15,000 students will be considered for places in technical colleges, yet some educationists would expect the number of students admitted to technical colleges to be higher.

According to the African Research and Resource Forum (ARRF), technical and vocational education and training is in fact “one of the most effective human resource development strategies that African countries need to embrace in order to train and modernise their technical workforce for rapid industrialisation and national development”.

Similarly, the Network for International Policies and Cooperation in Education and Training (Norrag) has stated that “it is expertise and technology that differentiates between the developed and developing countries such as Kenya”.

Vocational education maximises on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial skills, which are vital to the development of technologies that lead to industrialisation.

Students are prepared for university education in both primary and secondary school while youth polytechnics are considered to be an option for the poor in society and those who do not perform well in academics.

Kenya’s Vision 2030 includes projects which aim to revitalise youth polytechnics so as to equip youth with technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills to enhance their productivity.

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