As the country nears the national examinations period, the Ministry of Education has been challenged to scrap off the grade 6 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment ( KPSEA)
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Wednesday, November 23, the Executive Director of Usawa Agenda, Emmanuel Manyasa stated that he had submitted to the task force that KPSEA was not a vital component in the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Manyasa poked holes at the essence of examinations in totality, adding that a vast amount of money is wasted on the exercise that does not produce the right fit in society.
“I have submitted to the task force that in my view we should not have KPSEA for grade 6 because it is supposed to contribute 40 percent of their total score the other 60 percent is fictitious,” he stated.
“Exam is one of the most wasteful things we do in Kenya, I will not be surprised to see the CSs walking around supervising exams and we have never been told how much is spent on them, to invigilate exams,” he added.
Manyasa also questioned the credibility of the marks recorded online by teachers- as he claimed that a section of tutors keyed in false marks in a bid to meet the deadlines.
“Teachers did not take the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) seriously they didn't believe it is going to be there. They thought it would be abolished. The marks they entered for grades three, four and five which should account for 60 percent is fictitious hence KPSEA with 40 percent has no value,” he noted.
Offering an alternative, the Usawa Agenda director opined that Grade 6 students ought to either remain at primary level or transition to sub-county secondary schools.
Manyasa further alleged that during the CBC launch, the former president assured Kenyans that there would be no exit exam while transitioning to junior secondary.
“There will be no examinations in Standard Six, which shall ensure that we now have 100 per cent transition from primary through to secondary school," former president Uhuru stated on August 16, 2019 during the third national conference on curriculum reforms at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
Students are expected to sit the KCPE exams from Monday, November 28 to Wednesday, November 30. The KCSE, on the other hand, will take place from Friday, December 2 to Friday, December 23.
Speaking on Thursday, November 17, Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, assured the parents that the government was fully prepared to handle the national exams country-wide.
He promised to adopt a multi-sectoral approach to ensure the national examinations are not compromised.
