Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha yesterday expressed pride in his performance at both the Ministry of Education Ministry and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), saying he was leaving with his head held high.

Magoha, who outlined some of his achievements during the release of the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results, described his statement as “the most solemn and significant” since he joined the ministry three years ago.

Proud of his record

“As I prepare to hand over the basic education mantle to my successor, whom only God knows, I am proud of my record and I remain confident that the lady or gentleman who will come after me will find a comfortable place to continue from,” said the CS.

He noted that the KCPE examination is important because it is the last one being released under the Jubilee administration. He added that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime has had a six-year run of the most clean and flawless national examinations, which have restored the integrity and credibility of the certification system.

Similarly, he said, the KCPE exam results were the second last before fully transitioning to the Competency-Based Assessments (CBA) under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

“I am, therefore, proud and thankful to the Lord and President Uhuru to have been allowed me to serve the country for the past six years, three as Cabinet Secretary for Education and three as Chairman of the Kenya National Examinations Council. I cannot take for granted this opportunity to serve and I look forward to putting the icing on the cake over the next few months,” he said. Milestones outlined by the CS include the CBC, saying the Government has done everything possible to midwife its transition from the 8-4-4 system.

So far, the CBC has been implemented up to Grade Five. “Next month, the pioneers will join Grade Six and sit their first national assessment later this year. All curriculum materials for Grade Six have been prepared and distributed to schools,” said the CS.

He further said all relevant teachers for CBC have been trained and are prepared for Grade Six rollout, with 60,000 more to be trained next month for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) that starts next year.

Ahead of this, Magoha said the Ministry has constructed 6,497 classrooms to accommodate the CBC pioneer class under the first phase that cost the Government Sh5.1 billion.

“We’ll start phase two of constructing 3,503 classrooms as soon as we complete the marking of  KCSE examination. We hope to complete the construction of all 10,000 classrooms, as directed by the President, by the time I leave office,” he assured.

“All these preparations make me extremely comfortable that my successor will find a good script to follow in CBC implementation,” he added.

On CBA, he said the first Grade Six national assessment will be administered this December.

This will account for 40 per cent of the candidate’s final mark while the remaining 60 per cent will come from the class teachers’ scores drawn from the school-based assessments in Grades Four, Five and Six.

Formative and summative

“The new testing is expected to emphasise on both formative and summative assessments, which we hope will heavily reduce the cut-throat competition we have witnessed under 8-4-4 and heavily reduce the incentives for exam cheating,” said Magoha.

He also assured his successor that the Grade Six national assessment is ready. All that needs to be done is to oversee its administration, he said.

He noted that successful administration of the 2021 KCPE for the past six years would not have been possible without effective coordination of government ministries and departments.

He gave credit to the ministries of Interior and National Coordination of Government; Information, Communication and Technology; and the Teacher Service Commission for helping run  national examinations with utmost professionalism.

Transition milestone

Magoha said the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary levels is a milestone that should be enhanced.

Under the Elimu Scholarship, the CS said, two cohorts of 9,000 beneficiaries each have been identified from vulnerable and needy children who sat KCPE exams in 2020 and 2021.

The Elimu programme offers fully-paid scholarship for four years. “The beneficiaries could not have gone to the best national schools without the support of Elimu Scholarships. I appeal to the President to provide money this year to cover 9,000 scholarships under this programme to support needy children,” he said.

On exam irregularities, the CS thanked the Multi-Sectoral Examinations Monitoring Team for  helping curb the vice.