KCPE examination has a role in quality of education

By KEN RAMANIShould the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination be scrapped or not? This is the question on the lips of education stakeholders since Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni disclosed that he was preparing to move a Private Member’s Motion to seek Parliament’s approval to scrap the examination. There is general consensus that, when administered in an organised manner, national tests offer useful information about student progress and curriculum implementation, as well as offering formative uses for the learner. These tests enable Government obtain useful information on failure and successes of education programmes. This feedback is necessary for policy makers to gauge if the system is achieving the goals of education then take corrective measures. This is what Kenya National Examinations Council has been doing while administering the KCPE examination since its inception in 1985.KCPE exam just like KCSE, reports statistical information about student performance and factors related to educational performance for the nation. It’s on the basis of the exam results that decisions on admission to the limited secondary school places are made. The results of KCPE exam are also used in predicting students’ potential for continued learning and occupational competencies. It was the intention of the 8-4-4 system that after sitting KCPE exam, those who may not wish to further their formal education, may exit at this level and join vocational training institutions.It would be unfair to force everyone to study for 12 years imagining that after sitting KCSE exam, they will be more useful members of society, compared to those who exit at Standard Eight. It is wrong for anyone to say that if a candidate has not performed very well at KCPE examination he or she has "failed" in life. Struggling to payAssuming that Parliament agrees with Kioni and scraps KCPE exam, it will take a lot of thinking and planning on how all the more than 748,000 candidates that sat this year’s exam will be absorbed into the less than 6,000 secondary schools. Next year, we expect slightly over 760,000 candidates to register for the exam and in five years time, the number will approach one million mark.Will the Government be ready to lift the ban on employment of teachers to deal with the upsurge in enrolment? Making secondary education "basic" will mean poor parents will be forced to send their children to school . This will be a burden that will make some families choose between placing a meal on their tables and education for their children. Although the subsidised "Free Secondary Education" has to a large extent reduced the school fees burden, but most parents are struggling to pay the difference. Unfortunately, in the raging debate on the fate of KCPE examination, some teachers have assumed the role of politicians and activists.They are shooting from the hip without thinking out implications of what they are proposing. Many have only dwelt on the structure of education but not the curriculum. Without a national assessment test, how do they propose to handle admissions to national and provincial schools and at the same time promote national integration? If one roots for school-based assessment, how shall we ensure it is reliable and recognised? Is there a teacher out there who will be given a test to administer to pupils and collect answer sheets, mark them without bias by using an approved marking scheme, and forward the results to higher authorities to use to admit the pupils to certain schools?We do not have a better alternative to KCPE exam. It is, therefore, important to debate this matter conclusively. Find better forumI am not sure Parliament is the best place to debate a professional matter such as national examination and make radical changes as may be approved by a simple majority that may not have grasped the implications of their decision on the future of our education system.If need be, a national conference on education could be a better forum where our local experts will interact and debate the matter with others from around the world where national assessment is practiced at various levels and recommendations be made on the way forward.Otherwise there is no point getting excited about the prospect of scrapping KCPE exam without Mr Kioni tabling a convincing alternative. The writer is head of corporate affairs at Kenya National Examinations Council. The views expressed here are personal.

KCPE examination has a role in quality of education

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