Curriculum should be overhauled to include other crucial aspects of learning

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi released KCPE results for the year 2017 at KICD on 21st November 2017.[Edward Kiplimo|Standard]

The speedy release of the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results, only three weeks after the conclusion of the tests, is an affirmation of the root and branch changes in the administration of exams in the country.

This year’s results registered a marked improvement on the overall 2016 results. The highest score this year was 455 marks out of a possible 500. In 2016, the highest score was 437 marks. A total of 998,718 candidates sat the 2017 exams, an increase of 5.49 per cent from 2016. There was also an increase of 5.34 and 5.64 per cent respectively for the number of boys and girls who sat for the exams. Over the last four years, there has been an increase in the number of female students; an affirmation that both sexes have equal opportunity to education in line with Government policy.

In 2017, special needs candidates numbered 2,038, with the highest score in this category being an impressive 426 marks.

A performance improvement was noted in English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Kenyan Sign Language and Religious Education. But while this is laudable, it would seem that science subjects did not register the desired improvements over the last one year. Gratifyingly, and for the first time, all the 2017 KCPE candidates are guaranteed a 100 per cent transition rate to secondary school. With the Government pledge for free secondary school education effective January 2018, there is enough reason for pupils and parents to smile.

Additionally, while some may have missed the exams due to illness, loss of parents or giving birth during the normal examinations calendar, it is comforting to note that following a presidential directive, and in line with international practice, they will now have opportunity to take a supplementary exam.

For a long time, the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) was a den of corruption. Cheating had become the norm rather than the exception. A number of private schools, in a bid to maintain a high mean score, had resorted to unethical practices. Some schools even registered students in different examination centres depending on their academic strength to guarantee a high mean score. Clearly, the overriding concern for such schools was to stay ahead by hook or crook.

When Fred Matiang’i walked into the Ministry of Education, he knew his work was cut out. He has not disappointed. He took to his duties with such zeal that the cartels that had a stranglehold on the education sector became alarmed. The purge began at Knec, and although the cartels were initially unperturbed, it dawned on them soon enough that Dr Matiang’i meant business. The defenestration of top Knec executives and the appointment of former University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor George Magoha as Knec chairman marked the turnaround that everyone yearned for in the administration of national exams. And the fruit is evident.

For the second year running, no single case of cheating was reported where before, such cases resulted in the cancellation of thousands of results. In 2015, for example, 2,709 pupils missed their results because of cheating. Such practice not only undermines years of hard work and sacrifice by parents, teachers and students, it also undermines the trust in merit. Cheating kills the spirit of competition.

Truth be told: A compromised examination system speaks of an education system that places more value on grades than the acquisition of skills and knowledge; it speaks of a system dependent on rote learning instead of emphasising practical and logical application of skills and knowledge. Such practice makes schooling look like an endless endeavour to merely pass exams as opposed to acquiring critical thinking skills to solve practical problems in life and at the workplace. For taming this debilitating practice, Matiangi, Magoha and their teams deserve commendation. The value and integrity of our once-coveted education system have, to say the least, been restored.

All said and done, a tightened exam administration is the only guarantee to restoring the integrity of our education system. The need to overhaul a curriculum perceived to be solely exam-oriented at the expense of other crucial aspects of learning cannot be over emphasised. Matiang’i should give it the attention it deserves.