The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has commenced preparations for the Grade 9 assessment that will done by students completing Junior Secondary School (JSS).
The national assessment will be referred to as the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).
Students with severe disabilities on the other hand will have their separate examination which will be referred to as the Kenya Prevocational Learning Education Assessment (KPLEA).
As detailed in the initial plan, the national assessment assessment set for next year will account for some percentage of the final score/ assessment that will be given to each student who is completing the JSS.
"The formative, which is the school-based assessment will contribute to 40 per cent of the total score. The summative (KJSEA and KPLEA) will contribute 60 per cent
"This means that in Grade 7 and Grade 8, these learners are sitting for the school-based assessments. This is a strategy for us to move away from a high-stakes exam that comes at the end of a cycle," KNEC CEO David Njengere stated.
As part of the preparations for the assessment, KNEC will roll out a study in schools across the country.
"Apart from the assessments, we are also going to collect the data from the learners the teachers and the headteachers so that we can establish the environmental and school-based factors as we prepare for the summative assessment," he added.
Grade 8 students, who are the pioneer class of the CBC, will move to Grade 9 next year as they complete JSS.
Afterwards, they will move to the Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) - Grades 10,11 and 12. At this stage, students will be picking their career pathways.
"JSS level assessment shall be used for giving feedback on learning progress and identification of learner’s potential so as to guide in the selection of pathways in SSS.
"The assessment outcomes from both formative and summative assessments shall contribute to the final reporting at the end of Grade 9 at a ratio to be determined by KNEC," the Ministry of Education notes in its JSS guidelines.
