Grade 9 test sparks fears over return of KCPE competition

Revelation by Basic Education PS Julius Bitok over the looming scramble for top national schools in January could renew fears and anxiety of high-stakes examinations under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

PS Bitok on Tuesday hinted at possible jostling for the traditionally prestigious schools, thrusting parents into fresh anxiety previously associated with cut-throat examinations under 8-4-4.

Under the new CBC, parents were informed that it was basically to assist learners in identifying their strong learning areas, including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports.

The idea was also that learners score 20 per cent in Grade Six, accumulated after six years of school-based assessments throughout primary school.

Another 20 per cent would be drawn from Junior School school-based assessments at Grades Seven and Eight.

This meant that only 60 per cent was up for grabs by learners during the final Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA), presently being undertaken by 1.13 million learners.

The design of the school-based assessments and scores attached at each stage was meant to make learning quality and stress-free for learners during their school period.

This was touted as a marked departure from the 8-4-4 system that pushed learners to cram and engage in examination malpractice as they scrambled for top marks to make the cut.

But on Monday, speaking at Olympic Primary School in Kibra, PS Bitok seemed to claw back these gains by declaring a fresh fight for slots in Senior School.

A statement he released to the media on October 27 to announce the scramble was titled: “2.4 million candidates jostle for top spots in Competency-Based Education (CBE) examinations.”

In his statement, Bitok labeled the Grade 9 as “examinations” and not “assessments” as was envisaged by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

The PS further acknowledged there would be competition for slots in top schools.

“Despite the expected competition for slots in popular senior schools, there are enough schools to ensure no candidate will fail to transition to the next grade. We have 2.4 million spaces available for transition to Grade 10. Every learner will get a place,” said Bitok.

These were the same words previously used by top education officials during the administration of the defunct Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations.

To learners, it signals a matter of life and death for survival to secure future careers by enrolling in top-end schools.

For parents, this signaled another round of panic and anxiety over whether their children would make the grade to secure slots in the coveted schools. It also marked the beginning of a scramble to look for the revered schools; sometimes the search started earlier, with some heads asking for bribes.

And now, the statement by the PS has renewed fears that the students in Grade 9 will be scrambling for top national school positions, now known as C1 schools.

This could complicate the initial decision, bringing back the cut-throat competition associated with KCPE and KCSE examinations.

The KCPE was phased out in 2023 to give way to a two-tier testing system that will see students tested at the end of primary and junior school before joining senior secondary school.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Chief Executive, David Njengere, said the council aims at ending one-off, high-pressure examinations in the country.

Njengere says that junior school is designed to guide students in identifying the pathways they will pursue in senior school, ensuring they make informed choices about their academic and career directions.

“When something is new, there are a lot of views. This is the first time we are conducting the Grade 9 assessment, and because of the nature that no one has experienced it, there is a lot of guessing about what will be done. That happened in the first Grade 3 assessment, and we also saw it in KPSEA, where there was a lot of noise,” Njengere said.

However, the placement guidelines released by the ministry in May mirror the Form One admission style.

Just like it happened during Form One placement, the Ministry of Education announced that top candidates in the Grade 9 test in each sub-county will be placed in the national schools.

Similarly, the guidelines dictate that the top two learners per gender in each STEM track per sub-county will be placed in boarding schools of their choice.

The top learner per gender in each Social Sciences and Arts and Sports Science track per sub-county will also secure placement in a boarding school of their choice.

Learners achieving Level 7 or 8 in each track will qualify for placement in boarding schools of their choice.

Under KJSEA, the students are ranked on a scale of 1 to 8, with 7 and 8 being the top-ranking students.

And now, critics raise fears of a return to cut-throat competition in an education system that was initially designed to end the scramble for high scores and grades, with hopes of securing a top school in January.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Secretary-General Akelo Misori has criticised the move to re-categorise schools, noting that it will renew the scramble for prestigious schools.

“The ministry had no business in classifying schools. It should have followed the initial plan that was set to only have pathways as the only classification of the institutions,” Misori said.

Similarly, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) raised fears of the return of serious competition in the search for a top national school spot.

KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu said the candidates, if not properly placed, will lead to anxiety for those who will follow.

“Those in Grade 8 and 7 will be forced to put in so much work in their studies when they enter Grade 9 if this placement is not properly handled,” Oyuu said in an interview.

The assessment enters day three (Wednesday), and the students will take Kiswahili Lugha and Kiswahili Insha in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, the students will take Integrated Science and Pre-Technical Studies.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) insists that the Grade 9 test is not an examination but an assessment that will help identify the students’ strengths to help in placement to senior school.

The assessment will assume the traditional role of the KCPE examination by determining where students will proceed for secondary education, known as Senior School under the new arrangement.

However, the test comes with a range of modifications from the KCPE examination that was phased out in 2023.

Candidates go into the examination room having earned up to 40 per cent of their final mark from their KPSEA score and classroom assessments done by teachers in Grades 7 and 8.

This means they will only be competing for the remaining 60 per cent in this final test — a departure from the KCPE exam, which accounted for 100 per cent of the final mark.