Close to half of Kenyans are dissatisfied with the grading system under the competency-based education (CBE), citing information gaps in its application.
A new poll by Infotrak released on Thursday shows 45 percent of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with the grading system, while 38 percent expressed satisfaction.
The remaining 17 percent were unsure of the grading system that classifies learner performance under the bands of Exceeding Expectation, Meeting Expectation, Approaching Expectation, and Below Expectation.
Each band is further divided into upper and lower levels, allowing for a more refined differentiation of learner performance.
“For most parents, the system is a bit confusing because when told a child got an EE, the assumption is that they have failed as the 8-4-4 system had conditioned them to think,” said Infotrak researcher Johvine Wanyingo during the release of the poll results in Nairobi.
The survey, which was carried out between December 2025 and January 2026 and sampled parents with learners under the CBE, shows North Eastern region registered the highest level of satisfaction for the grading system at 80 percent, followed by Western at 46 percent.
The Coast region recorded the highest level of dissatisfaction of the system at 55 percent, followed by Eastern at 50 percent and Nairobi at 49 percent.
“The results mean that the Ministry of Education has to do a lot of education regarding the grading system to clear out this confusion among Kenyans,” he said.
On challenges faced during the transition to senior school, majority of Kenyans (39 percent) cited the high cost of education as the main challenge, followed by lack of adequate information or guidance on the new system (19 percent).
Other challenges included the inability to afford school fees (13 percent), uncertainty about student placement (2 percent), inadequate learning facilities, infrastructure, and teachers (2 percent), psychological stress among students (2 percent), and inadequate learning materials (2 percent).
The transition of the first class of learners to Grade 10 under the CBE proved chaotic rising from discontentment in the manner in which placement was done coupled with persistent delays in downloading admission letters from the placement portal.
This was followed by low Grade 10 admission turnout, with many parents citing financial constraints and lack of uniforms. The situation prompted President William Ruto to direct school principals to admit learners regardless of uniform availability or fee payment status.
In its updates, the Ministry of Education notes that as at noon of Tuesday January 27 2026, transition of learners to senior school stood at 96 percent.
Concerning views on making secondary school uniforms optional, 63 percent of Kenyans believe they should not be made optional, while 34 percent support the idea. A further 3 percent said they were unsure.
“Majority of parents still feel that school uniforms should not be abolished because they make it easy to differentiate learners from other members of the public,” said Mr Wanyingo.
This comes amid complaints from parents that some schools have turned the uniform requirement into a profit-making venture, serving their own interests at the expense of parents.
Overall, 49 percent of Kenyans believe that the quality of education in the country has improved since the introduction of the CBE. However, 33 percent feel that the quality has declined, while 18 percent believe it has remained the same.
Half of parents with CBE learners in Coast region perceive the quality of education as having declined, followed by those in Central at 39 percent and those in Eastern at 38 percent.
The poll shows 78 percent of respondents from North Eastern region perceive the quality of education had improved followed by their counterparts in Western (60 percent) and Rift Valley (54 percent).
