With the rollout of the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) introduced a national assessment for grade 6 pupils.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) certificate offered to the pupils is different from other documents graded by KNEC.
Known as a performance report and only issued in softcopy, the certificate is downloaded by school heads through KNEC’s portal cba.knec.ac.ke.
Particulars captured by the performance report include the assessment centre and number as well as the name and gender of the pupil.
On the far right of the certificate, the gender of the pupil is captured with ‘F’ denoting a girl and ‘M’ a boy.
Unlike the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate, this performance report does not capture a passport photo of the candidate.
Subjects tested
KNEC examines Grade Six pupils in five subjects including English Language, Kiswahili Lugha and Mathematics.
Other subjects include Integrated Science Creative Arts and Social Studies.
Integrated Science includes Science and Technology, Agriculture, Home Science, and Physical and Health Education.
On the other hand, Creative Arts and Social Studies cover Social Studies, Art and Craft, Music and Religious Education.
Grading
All five subjects are graded from Performance Level 1 to 4 with the highest number indicating exemplary performance.
Performance Level 1 is described as below expectation and is awarded where the learner attempts to display the knowledge, skills and attitudes/values assessed and does so with assistance.
“The learner displays the knowledge, skills and attitudes/values assessed some of the times,” KNEC remarks on Performance Level 2 which is described as approaching expectation.
For Performance Level 3 described as meeting expectations, the grade six pupil is able in most cases to tackle assessment tasks given.
“The learner consistently and with a very high level of accuracy displays the knowledge, skills and attitudes/values assessed,” KNEC remarks on Performance Level 4.
Performance Level 4 is the highest academic commendation a grade 6 pupil can get and is described as exceeding expectations.
Checking the authenticity of the certificate
Apart from having the learner's particulars, the certificate must have a school stamp and the head teacher’s signature together with the download date.
Additionally, the certificate must have the watermark of KNEC's logo.
