First
things first, wishing success to all the Grade 4 learners who will be
undertaking their first School-Based Assessment (SBA) under the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) on Monday next week.
This year’s Grade 4 is the pioneer
class of recently launched 2-6-3-3-3 education system under the CBC. This
assessment, together with all other prerequisites put in place by the
government, affirms its commitment to ensure the gradual phase out of the old
8-4-4 system is a success.
The Assessment
Firstly, the test will be
administered by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), and will
constitute 20 marks for both regular (age-based) and stage-based (special
needs) learners. The learners will be required to sit two other tests I.e. in
Grade 5 and Grade 6. The School-Based Assessments will cumulatively constitute
60%. The final national exams will cater for the remaining 40%.
The Logistics of the assessment
According to KNEC, the material to be
used in completing the School-Based Assessment tasks will be improvised by the
schools within the immediate environment. Teachers will administer and mark the
tests. In this regard, KNEC directs schools to download the School Based
Assessment tools, administer to learners, and score. Further, the schools are
required to upload the scores of each learner to the KNEC Competency Based
Assessment portal by 19th March of this year.