The government is mulling a move to scrap police involvement in the administration of national exams beginning this year, Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang has revealed.
Speaking during the Inaugural Annual Symposium on Competency Based Assessment in Nairobi, Kipsang said recent changes in the education sector present an opportunity for the country to change the systems of administering national exams.
“This is the most opportune time to change how we administer assessments,” Kipsang said.
“I’ll be very surprised to see police officers in assessment rooms this year. It’s time to let our children be children.”
He made the remarks during the second day of the Symposium designed to create a forum for the discussion on areas of common interest and chart the way forward in the implementation of the CBC curriculum.
In addition, PS Kipsang said the government will soon convene a stakeholder meeting on the pathways and pathway placement in Senior School.
According to him, secondary schools will soon be categorized according to the pathways they will offer.
Timing of proposal by PS Belio Kipsang
The proposal if implemented could bring to and end a tradition where police and other security agency officers have been involved in overseeing the exam administration process in various centers.
However, with the switch towards a lesser competitive curriculum aimed at inculcating competencies among learners, the idea of having police could soon be a thing of the past.
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CBC was meant to address, among others, the perennial cases of cheating in national exams as students and institutions strived to score high grades for placement in top schools and courses.
In a bid to ensure integrity in the 2023 national exams, the government deployed 60,000 police officers to man centers in different parts of the country.
Whilst their presence was not solely meant to prevent cases of cheating, some critics took issue with their impact on the learners fearing that they would intimidate the students in their exam rooms.
2023 marked a turning point in Kenya’s education system as the curtains fell for the 8-4-4 education system with the administration of the last ever Kenya Certificate of POrimary Education (KCPE).
Also Read: KNEC Issues Guidelines on Student Registration for KPSEA and KILEA
Officials praise CBC
On his part, Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) CEO David Njegere lauded the reforms in the new curriculum noting that they presented an opportunity to transform from one-off, terminal exams to nurturing every learner’s potential through continuous assessments.
As the country prepares for the inuagral summative assessment at Grade 9, Njegere said the Exam Council will develop tools for a pilot to be conducted in sampled schools in June.
According to him, KNEC will issue sample papers to inform every learner at Junior School of how they will be assessed at Grade 9 by October.
Stakeholders present at the symposium touted the CBC as the ideal way of exposing the learners to a broad pathway of careers noting that it allows the learners to explore their potential and discover what they want to be after school.
