Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, on Wednesday, declared that students in secondary schools will sit for two national examinations, under the new curriculum.
According to The Star, Magoha insists on students being tested at the end of the junior secondary in Grade 9 and will also sit another exam at the end of the senior secondary in Grade 12.
“There are certain ambiguities I want to correct with a finality. As the government, we have decided that there will be an examination after Grade 9 and after Grade 12,” Magoha informed.
This will be a shift from the 8-4-4 system where learners are only required to sit the Kenya Certificate Secondary Education examination.
However, Magoha and education technocrats have differed on the examination setup for pupils in primary school, on whether they should sit exams.
This is despite the formation of a task force that will give direction on the way forward on how primary school pupils will transit to secondary.
Magoha prefers examinations similar to the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education that ranks learners. Technocrats, however, are opposed to the idea, stating that examinations in primary schools would bring back stiff competition.
The new curriculum is stipulated to eliminate examinations in primary school.
Kenya National Examination Council CEO Mercy Karogo suggested a system that could involve both examinations and classroom assessment for primary schools.
Karogo detailed that learners will be provided with a status report that will be produced in secondary schools they join to guide the teacher on their strength.
