Grade 3 assessment will not be ranked, says Knec

Grade 3 learners set to sit their first national assessment in September will not be ranked, the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) has said.

Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, acting Chief Executive Officer Mercy Karogo also announced the council will not release the results for individual schools or learners. Dr Karogo maintained that the Kenya Early Years Assessment (KEYA) is a national assessment and not an examination.

She explained that an assessment provides large-scale feedback on learning outcomes at the formative stages for decision making while an examination is a summative assessment given for individual achievement, selection and placement.

CURRICULUM SUPPORT

“The KEYA assessment tools shall be distributed to all the curriculum support officers, who shall coordinate with the head teachers in their respective zones to administer the assessment in September,” said Dr Karogo.

She said the schools will administer and score the learning outcomes in the assessment tools.

“As has been the case with national assessments, the outcomes of KEYA shall be compiled into a report, which shall provide feedback at the national level,” said Dr Karogo, said those without certificates will still sit for the assessment.

“All learners should be captured for identification purposes, even as their parents and guardians continue to make attempts to get the numbers for their future use in NEMIS,” she said.

She said for learners already registered in NEMIS, once the NEMIS number is keyed in on the KEYA portal, all the details of the learner, including their birth certificate number will automatically be displayed for ease of enrolment.

FEEDBACK

Dr Karogo said for Ministry of Education to get meaningful feedback that can guide making the necessary interventions in the education system, there is a need for periodical national assessment at the critical tiers -in the education system.

She said a national assessment centre has since been established at Knec, which has been conducting various formative national assessments.

She said the assessment objectives are to: improve learning and instruction, facilitate identification and nurturing of every learner’s potential, facilitate selection of pathways and track in senior secondary schools, provide assessment feedback to learners and other stakeholders, and provide evidence as a basis for the accountability of teachers, school administrators and other stakeholders.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Learners, she said will be assessed in Early Years Education in Grade 3, Middle Years Education in Grade 6, Lower secondary education in Grade 9 and Senior school education in grade 12.

“KEYA, therefore, is an assessment to inform on learning achievements attained by learners in Grade 3,” said Dr Karogo.

She said in preparation for the roll-out of the competence-based curriculum, Knec piloted KEYA in September last year in 100 schools across the country out of the 235 had identified for piloting the CBC.