Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Director Julius Jwan at a past event. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has welcomed a proposal to abolish the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination.
KICD chief executive officer Julius Juan Ouma said the final national examination at the primary school level has denied many pupils further education.Speaking in Mombasa to more than 8,000 principals at Wild Waters, during the 42nd Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association Annual Conference, Ouma said the Ministry of Education should introduce an alternative exam that won’t lock pupils out.“One strong proposal is that we do not need the final examination or the summative evaluation that we have at the end of primary schooling,” said Ouma.“As it is now, in our judgment, it is simply placing learners in specific schools and then eliminating others by telling them you have failed. We do not need that exam, and especially when we change to the new curriculum starting next year,” he said.The government plans to phase out the 8-4-4 system, which was introduced in 1985 and introduce a new curriculum 2-6-6-3.Ouma said the Education Ministry will come up with an alternative way of administering exams, referred to as national assessments.Ouma said the new curriculum, which will focus on content, skills and competency will allow the children to compete without subjecting them to national examinations, which education experts have described as “death sentence for learners who fail”.In the new assessment system, the ministry will pick certain subjects and skills and test them throughout the country without necessarily waiting for the end of primary education.