KEYA: Grade 3 pupils to sit for Kenya Early Years Assessment national exam this year

The first batch of learners in the 2-6-3-3-3 system will take their first national exam under the curriculum this year, KNEC acting CEO Mercy Karogo has announced.

Dr Karogo explained that Grade 3 pupils will be the first to take the exam at the end of the 2019 third term, before they are cleared to proceed to Grade Four.

The new exam will be called Kenya Early Years Assessment (KEYA) and will cover three areas of study - English, Mathematics and Integrated Learning Areas.

Teachers sharing food for primary school pupils sitting on the floor in an overcrowded classroom ece-auto-gen

The exams, now referred to as assessments, will take two months to administer and will only factor in the pupil's best work.

"Learners will be assessed using a portfolio assessment for about two months.

"Portfolio is a purposeful collection of learners' work that shows effort, progress and mastery of a specified learning outcome or competency. It provides evidence of progress and achievement or mastery," Dr Karogo stated.

Requirements for teachers in new Competency-Based curriculum

The acting KNEC boss was speaking during the ongoing teachers' training for the Competency Based curriculum in Machakos.

She added that a Competency Based Assessment Framework (CBAF) had already been developed ahead of the first cycle of the tests.

Dr Mercy Karogo, acting CEO of KNEC Pulse Live Kenya

Dr Karogo encouraged teachers to employ various methods of assessment including oral exams to test language skills.

She further urged the teachers to be adaptive to the system and focus on enhancing the student's potential.

"Assessment will be more of a process of determining the capability of a learner to apply the knowledge, skills, attitude and values as they perform tasks.

"Use of key inquiry questions will help learners acquire the higher order thinking skills as they solve problems within their immediate environment," she advised.