The Ministry of Education on Friday, April 21, released a circular to parents and teachers regarding the availability of examination materials for Grades 3, 4 and 5 pupils on its portal.
In the notice, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) confirmed that Grade 3 examination materials will be accessible on its portal for download beginning June 5, 2023.
KNEC further directed the headteachers to download the forms, administer the exams and re-upload the results latest by August 11, 2023.
Among the documents that will be uploaded include Kenya Early Years Assessment (KEYA) tools for Grades 3 and Kenya Foundation Level Education Assessment (KFLEA) for learners with special needs and disabilities.
School-Based Assessment Tools for Grades 4 and 5 will also be available on the portal in various formats including portal document format (PDF).
"To access the assessment portal, Headteachers are required to login onto the CBA portal, www.cba.knec.ac.ke.
"Any school that will have password challenges should contact their respective Sub-county Directors of Education for resetting of the password," the statement read in part.
KNEC also confirmed that Grade 4 and 5 examination materials will be available on the portal beginning July 10, 2023, and the results be uploaded by August 11, 2023.
The examiner expects Sub-county Directors of Education, Headteachers of Primary Schools and Special Schools to administer the assessment tools, score and upload the assessment outcomes of all learners on the CBA portal.
Schools were also advised to log in using the school credentials such as Username and password in order to access the tools in PDF format and download them.
"The tools will then be given to learners in either print format, projected on the screen or written on the board. Depending on the format adopted, learners may write their responses on the question paper or on the provided writing materials provided by the school," added the statement.
To access the tools in this format prescribed, individual learners with special needs are required to log onto the portal using their respective assessment numbers.
Upon logging in, the special needs learners are expected to access the tools directly via digital devices such as the Digital Learning Programme (DLP) tablets available in schools.
"Learners will be expected to give their responses on writing materials provided by the school. The two formats of assessment tools will be displayed on the CBA portal dashboard using different buttons.
"Schools are encouraged to allow learners access the tools directly using the DLPS or any other available digital devices such as desktop computers and laptops. This will help schools save on printing cost. Those who may have challenges with the direct access may opt for the pdf format," Knec clarified.
Further, KNEC noted that School-Based Assessment tools for Foundation Level will be accessed in PDF format by their teachers.
The teachers will assess the learners as they undertake the performance-based tasks and score using the guidelines provided in the tool.
"A detailed user manual describing step by step on how to access the tools, instructions, scoring guides and how to upload learners' scores is available on the CBA portal.
"The assessment tools with coloured images should be printed in colour or loaded on the digital devices available in the school. The learners should answer the questions using separate answer sheets provided by the school. In schools where digital devices are inadequate, the assessments can be done in shifts," Knecstated.
At the same time, Kenc asked Headteachers to keep all records and evidence generated from the assessments since the materials will be required for future reference.
