The 2001 ban on mock exams still in force

What you need to know:

  • The Ministry of Education banned mock examinations in September, 2001, following recommendations in the report of the Task Force on Student Discipline and Unrest in Secondary Schools.
  • The task force was commissioned by the minister for Education, Science and Technology at the time, Mr Henry Kosgey, and chaired by Mrs Naomy Wangai.
  • The Wangai Report, accordingly, recommended that there be a professional balance in learning and testing in schools, with the aim of curtailing unprofessional examining of students.

The media reported last week that the Cabinet Secretary for Education had banned the administration of mock examinations to students in high school.

The truth of the matter is that Prof Jacob Kaimenyi called for enforcement of the ban on administration of mock examinations in secondary schools.

The Ministry of Education banned mock examinations in September, 2001, following recommendations in the report of the Task Force on Student Discipline and Unrest in Secondary Schools.

The task force was commissioned by the minister for Education, Science and Technology at the time, Mr Henry Kosgey, and chaired by Mrs Naomy Wangai.

The task force also banned tuition during weekends and holidays and forbade extension of learning beyond school hours. The ban has never been lifted. All that Prof Kaimenyi did, in light of recent unrest in schools, was to reinforce the ban.

The Ministry of Education is committed to ensuring that all children get a rich, meaningful education that prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges of adulthood. Although due for reform, the curriculum in force is capable of imparting the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enable the students to be useful members of the society and the global economy.

However, this will depend on the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in our schools.

Frequent examinations at the zonal, sub-district, county, and diocesan levels — in the case of Catholic-sponsored schools — compromise quality teaching and learning in schools.

The task force did not confine itself to administration of mock examinations to candidates preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination; it also made an observation to the effect that the number of tests done in the entire school system as part of continuous assessment were excessive and cause stress to the entire student body and unnecessary expenditure by parents.

The Wangai Report, accordingly, recommended that there be a professional balance in learning and testing in schools, with the aim of curtailing unprofessional examining of students.

The ministry has never lifted the ban on mock examinations or frequent testing, as the Wangai Report recommended. The Cabinet secretary simply directed that schools observe it.

Examinations should ideally aim at monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning. It should be diagnostic, not punitive. It should not be used to label students. It should, however, be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning in a formal environment.

Too much testing of students takes away the time meant for effective teaching and learning.

We would make the children of this country proud of all of us — all stakeholders in education — if we adhered to the renewed ban on mock examinations and holiday tuition, both of which have created an inhospitable teaching and learning environment for the conscientious teacher as well as the average student who needs a learning environment with less pressure than prevails in the current situation we have foisted on him/her.

Mr Buhere is a communications officer, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. [email protected]