Mid-year KCSE exams best practice others should adopt

The Ministry of Education’s decision to administer mid-year Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations for the next three years is a timely policy and best practice that should be replicated by other government agencies.

In 2017, Kenya introduced a new student-centred curriculum that aims to identify and focus on developing practical skills, creativity and critical thinking.

Unlike the 8-4-4 system of education, in which students spend eight years in primary school, four in secondary and another four at university, the 2-6-6-3 Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) will see learners spend two years in pre-primary; six in primary (three years each in lower and upper primary school); six years in secondary (again split into three years of junior and another three of senior secondary); with the last three years in college or university.

But with the 8-4-4 system in its last stages of being phased out, the ministry seems to have thought through the transition ahead of time, and come up with mitigation measures to ensure seamless and optimal use of this transition period. 

The mid-year exams will create opportunities for the potential backlog of candidates and other Kenyans who may be disadvantaged by the transition to sit the examination and qualify for further education and professional training.

Such timely decisions help to mitigate risks, and lead to efficient allocation and use of resources, enabling as many individuals as possible to seize opportunities that they would otherwise have missed.

But such a best practice should not be left to die out with the ongoing transition from one education system to another. Rather, it should be emulated and replicated as a best practice in governance and public policy implementation by other government ministries.

For instance, during recruitment drives by Kenya’s national security organs – the Kenya Defense Forces, National Police Service, National Youth Service, and Kenya Wildlife Service – it’s often emphasised that female applicants must not be pregnant at the time they apply.

While this requirement is understandable at face value – taking into account the rigour of military and paramilitary training that such security officers undergo to qualify for placement in their respective fields of public service – the fact that there is no knowing when the recruitment takes place in the calendar year has always been used to the disadvantage of young women keen to join and serve in these national security organs and agencies.

Article 10 of the Constitution provides for the national values and principles of governance that bind all State organs, State officers, public officers, as indeed all persons, whenever making or implementing public policy decisions.

Recruitment of personnel to the country’s national security organs is a process of implementation of public policy, and ought to be guided by such national values and principles as human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised.

For years, women have been marginalised by structural impediments, some rooted in age-old customs and traditions, such as the military ones that dictate that they should not to be expectant when joining as recruits.

Article 56 calls for affirmative actions that ensure that such minorities and marginalised groups get a second chance to participate in public service and governance positions, including special opportunities in education, as the Ministry of Education is doing with the mid-year KCSC exams.

It’s the right of all Kenyans, including young women desiring to serve in State security agencies to be accorded the opportunity they deserve, without any discrimination on the grounds of such temporary indispositions as pregnancy. Coming up with affirmative action programmes that accord those who may be expectant at the time of regular recruitment is a right, not a privilege.

— The writer is the Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre-