Teachers have raised concerns about the new Competency-Based Assessments (CBA) for Grade 3, 4 and 5 students which kicked off on Monday, August 31.
These assessments, a brainchild of the new 2-6-3-3-3 Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), does not feature multiple choices. Tutors lamented that the assessments only favour learners who are able to read, understand and write.
“The exam is challenging as compared to the 8-4-4 system. It only favours learners who are able to read and understand,” said a teacher at the Sharp Angels Learning Centre in Kayole.
“Unlike the 8-4-4 system, you cannot guess as there are no multiple choices. If you cannot read or write, then you have no way out,” she added.
The assessment comprises written questions that require pupils to apply the knowledge acquired in class. The questions, another teacher notes, implore the student to think through the question and provide a solution.
“Current assessments are not direct questions but application. So the learner should be able to read and understand the question then provide a solution,” said a teacher at the Tassia School in Embakasi.
Teachers have to download the assessments from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) portal and upload the pupils’ responses on the portal at the end of the assessments. This has also posed a challenge to some teachers.
The assessments at the end of Grades 3, 4, and 5, are each worth 20 points and will add up to a total of 60 points at the end of Grade 5.
Grade Six, the final year in primary school, will then be marked out of 40 marks, adding up to a total of 100 marks in primary school. This implies that assessments in each grade count in the pupil’s final score, unlike the 8-4-4 system where pupils were graded only after class 8.
The assessments end on Friday, February 4 while the Grade 6 KCPE exams kick off in March 2022.
