Education Cabinet secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i has announced that the education system in Kenya will be changed from the current one. The 8-4-4 system which has been existing from 1985 has been done away with. The new system to be adopted is the 2-6-6-3.
This system will see primary school pupils spend 2 years in nursery and pre-unit, 6 years in primary school. Students at secondary will spend six years in secondary schools and the 4 years spend at the university level will be reduced to three years.
According to Matiang’I delegates will debate about the new education curriculum frame work and present their views and finding to him as it will await approval.
It is a relief to some students because the KCPE and KCSE exams have been done away with in the system.KCPE has been replaced with the Kenya Assessment Learners achievement (KALA) while KCSE has been replaced with Kenya Certificate of Basic education (KCBE).
With this types of examination the students will be examined throughout their learning period in school.Mr. Matiang'i hinted that the system will see students develop holistically without learning just to pass exams.
At primary school level the,it is divided into two equal sections.KALA two and Three.KALA one is found at the nursery level where the pupils are taught numerical, ,Science, Reading and writing.
At KALA 2 or grade 6 ,which is also called Upper primary school the learners will be tested in three areas, these are Science,Mathematics,Reading and writing.
At KALA 3 or lower secondary school- grade 9 the learners will major in the following six subjects, English, Mathmatics, Integrated science,Kiswahili ,Pre-vocation studies and Social studies.
In the proposed curriculum the teachers will conduct regular classroom assessment learners at primary level up to the time they finish primary school.
The Kenya National examination Council ( KNEC) will only test the pupils at the end of this level and the exam will only be 30% while 70% will come from the teachers in the school where the pupils are taught.
All this will be put together and be used to grade the learners.Knec will develop and administer the exams at the end of each level. All the grades at each level will be accumulated and be used to grade the learners.
For learners in the senior school or grade 10-13 ,a minimum of eight subjects will be taken totaling to 2,592 hours or 72 credits. It should be noted that each time will be counted per subject.
For one to graduate from the senior high school, he must have done a minimum of eight subjects whereby each subject will have a minimum of nine credits.And when we talk of a credit we mean that an equivalent of 36 hours of study.Learners from senior high schools after they have done their exams the same in KALA format, they will move to the next level of learning that is the university if they have attained the required grades.
Each and everybody has reacted differently to the move the Education CS has taken.Some say it is agood system that will reduce cheating and develop students to what they aspire to become.
Some say he could have left it as the way it was and just changed a few things here and there. To them this will be an extra burden to teachers and students as they conform to the new system.
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