Today marks a watershed moment in the history of education in Kenya.
The departure of an old way of doing things and embracing of a new order. It will be the last time learners will be spending eight years in primary school and then write the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations, a key plank of the 8-4-4 system of education that has spanned close to four decades.
The system has attracted criticism and praise in equal measure and there still exists a sizeable number who feel it should be retained.
The first 8-4-4 class was examined in 1985 while the 2023 class will be the last and 39th, just one short of 40 years.
The end of the 8-4-4 era at primary school level fully ushers in the competency-based curriculum (CBC) as well as the competency-based assessment (CBA).
It will take four more years to phase out the 8-4-4 system at secondary school level and four others at university as the CBC is rolled out incrementally.
More than 24 million Kenyans who sat the KCPE examinations hold both nostalgic as well as bitter memories of the examinations. In a way, the examinations were a matter of life and death as they determined placement to different categories of secondary schools.
So serious has been the affair that it became customary for parents and teachers to congregate days before the exams to seek divine intervention.
KCPE exams determined admission to national and provincial schools (as they were previously called), which was a dream of many, owing to their high pass rates to onward transition to tertiary education and gainful careers. District and harambee schools were less attractive.
The classification was later revised to national, extra-county, county and sub-county schools. Cruel fate awaited those who did not get admission to the few secondary schools available.
The government is investigating reports that some schools are registering Grade Seven learners to sit this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations instead of allowing them to join junior secondary.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Some enrolled in polytechnics to train in various crafts while, sadly, it marked the end of school for so many. They joined the unskilled labour market that is characterised by low pay and poor livelihoods.
In the early years of the KCPE examinations, public primary schools dominated the top places. It was not unusual for the likes of Olympic Primary School in Kibera or AIC Kathonzweni Primary School in Makueni to emerge among the top performers. Public education was of high quality and there were few private schools in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. The current reality is different where private schools dominate the top spots in KCPE examinations as many parents shun public education whose quality is perceived as inferior. Ironically, competition for admission in top public secondary schools remains high.
The number of examinable subjects for the KCPE has varied over the years as reviews to the curriculum were periodically effected. Some subjects like music, home science, agriculture and art and craft were shed off while tinkering with combinations of others continued.
Standard Eight candidates from Gilgil Hills Academy during rehearsal for KCPE exams scheduled to start on Monday, October 30, 2023.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Preparation of candidates for the KCPE introduced into the Kenyan school culture unhealthy practices like ‘remedial’ classes, also referred to as ‘tuition’. These would be conducted early in the morning before the official timetable, in the evening after classes, during weekends and also during the holidays when learners were meant to take a break from school work. The end of the KCPE era will be a change of Kenyan school culture.
When Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announces the KCPE results, hopefully before Christmas, it will be the last time clichés like; ‘Top performers reveal their secrets of success’, appearing in the Press. The answers by candidates have always been predictable: ‘hardwork, God’s grace, discipline, teamwork from teachers and parents, etc.
However, for some candidates, they had all these but still did not score the desired marks in an examination which has failed to measure all a child is capable of. It is these anomalies that the CBC and the CBA will seek to make right in order to identify, exploit and measure every learner’s potential.
