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The Ministry of Education is in the process of developing a Cabinet memo that will guide the remaining Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination classes’ grading structure.

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has said there is need to separate grading from placement and move away from the 8-4-4 structure, which provided for exams that were primarily summative for certification and placement.

He explained the recommendation of the Presidential Working Party on education Reforms (PWPER) is to separate placement and testing to appreciate what the students have learned, their competencies, skills and knowledge and translating that into certification.

“What we have been doing for a long time is  mixing the two and that is why we were having cluster subjects. We used to say you must be credit on Mathematics, Kiswahili, English, Biology sometimes, Chemistry so you find this child is credited on so many learning areas which are aligned to placement but we want to separate placement from grading so that you test a child on two critical areas on numeracy and literacy,” explained the PS.

He made the remarks after presenting the status of implementing the PWPER recommendations to the National Assembly Committee on Education in Mombasa.

“We still have five groups of 8-4-4 and we would want them to benefit from the new grading system. We will move with speed to make the Cabinet memo and the Cabinet will give us direction and we move forward,” Kipsang stated.

Best five

The PS said the Ministry is seeking to grade learners on mathematics and language as compulsory, explaining that a language is either English or Kiswahili not both and this will take care of literacy and numeracy.

He said the other thing to look at will be the best areas that the student has acquired knowledge and competencies by picking the best subjects and learning areas for grading.

“You pick the first two, which is literacy and numeracy and then you pick the best five from all the subjects the child has done,” the CS said.

For instance to study Medicine, in most instances, a student must get straight A so the student may end up missing a straight A because a Humanity subject has been forced into the grading.

“You can imagine this student who has done three Sciences and we are saying we are grading you in two Sciences yet he has three As but we shall leave out one A because we must pick a humanity… And because the student may not be good in humanities and has a poor grade, it will take down his mean grade and out of the areas they want to learn,” he said.

He added: “But if we would have said any best five subjects, the three Sciences would have been there and maybe two other areas the student is good in. That way, you will have given the right certificate to the student but now when it goes to placement, they will say you must have done three Sciences to do Medicine. This way, we will be having the three Sciences graded so we will have totally separated certification from placement.”

This way, said the PS, cluster and placement will become different issues after certification.

He said the Ministry is doing a simulation using previous years’ exams so that it can see the impact of the proposed grading structure.

“By the time we develop the cabinet memo we will have done simulations to assist the Cabinet in making a decision on the impact of the new grading system,” he said.

At the same time, the PS said the Ministry is seeking a harmonized approach to the transition and as they continue to consult on PWPER recommendations, they have brought in the Legislature, so that it is part of the process and this will help the process move faster.

“Parliament is a critical part of this because there are quite a number of laws that will need amendment and having them as a partner is important,” he said.

Cut waste

Kipsang, who made the presentation on behalf of Education Cabinet Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu, said the success of education reforms will largely depend on appropriate changes in the laws governing education.

“Access to inclusive quality education at all levels of the tiers of education requires efficiency and effectiveness of systems and structures. There is an urgent need to improve linkages between institutions working in education by demarcating the roles each plays and should play with uttermost clarity,” said Machogu in his statement.

He said there is need to cut waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness of educational institutions.

“While the government is committed to this goal, it requires the support of Parliament to streamline legal framework governing education and to make adequate budget provisions to that effect,” said Machogu.