How other developed states deal with examinations

The abolishing of national examination ranking has moved Kenya closer to some developed nations, which focus on a holistic development of a child as opposed to a final test.

Though Kenya’s education system is still far in comparison to the United Kingdom in terms of infrastructure and monitoring and evaluation, the move is set to reduce the pressure on the child to perform at all costs.

The pressure has forced schools to turn students into ‘machines’ to memorise answers and regurgitate them in examination rooms without really understanding the content.

Also, students with other talents like sports and arts have always ended up being disadvantaged because they cannot join better national schools without making the grades.

In UK for instance, there are no national primary school leaving examinations. Their equivalent of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations, which was called the ‘Eleven Plus’ and taken at the 11 years was scrapped. This was after a public outcry sighting similar reasons like the ones facing Kenya, where rich parents will pay what it costs to have their children pass the tests and those who fail end up depressed.

But there remains two sets of national exams at high schools known as the General Certificate of Secondary Education, formerly ‘O’ levels and the ‘A’ levels. There also exists extensive rankings of schools often referred to as ‘league tables’ for schools by the department of education. In the UK ranking, schools are given a national score on indicators such as reading, writing and mathematics. There is also ranking of primary schools by low, middle, high ‘attainers.’

According to the UK’s department of education, its assessment gives national and local authority level data on attainment and progress of children at primary school. The performance tables provide information on the achievements and progress of schools and their pupils.

 SELECTION PROCESS

The tables can also be used to compare a school’s performance nationally, within a local authority area and with similar schools.

There is also a dedicated government department that inspects and regulates school standards known as the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.
Every week, the department carries out hundreds of inspections and regulatory visits throughout England and publishes the results online.

The student selection processes to join high schools in the UK differs for private and State-run schools. It is a competitive process for private, fee-paying schools based on performance. In theory, a student should be able to go to any State school of their choice but there may be different criteria for different types of schools to control numbers.

Some private secondary schools in UK use an exam called ‘Common Entrance’ as part of their admissions process into high school.
There is also some form of ranking in South Africa and in the United States of America. However in the US, most of the ranking is done by the private sector, which compares schools and releases various performance numbers to guide students on their intake. However, students don’t just rely on one examination but are continuously graded at every stage. Also in the US, regions states, districts set their own standards.
In South Africa, national examination results are released at the various schools across the country and then published in local newspapers the following day.