Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results were released Tuesday amid the frenzy that is normally associated with the annual event.

The hype surrounded the pupils with the highest marks and the schools with the best performance in last year’s examination. One thing that rang out is the fact that the mean score of the participating students and schools overshadowed all other aspects of the learning experience the children went through.

This is why I want to bring back the debate surrounding the criteria used to assess the success of the education system. It is a debate that has gone on for a long time and even prompted a curriculum review by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

For decades, emphasis has been placed on the overall score in academics to the extent that holistic child development has been given a back banner. Private Schools continue registering bright students in one centre while the less academically gifted are herded to other centers during the examination for purposes of competition which ultimately translates to business through increased enrolments.

Schools have also been blamed for raising the mark for transitioning to the next class too high for some pupils forcing them to repeat classes many times. Some schools even expel underperforming pupils. What this means is that the quality of education in the country continues being watered down since no other parameters are being put into focus.

According to Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) CEO Paul Wasanga, KCPE and KCSE should not be viewed as a pass or fail exam, rather it should simply be a way to evaluate the academic potential of a child regardless of the performance.

“If the Government had 22,785 secondary schools, all the 811,930 KCPE candidates would transit to form 1. The KCPE examination result only tells the country how the candidates have performed to assist in placement in the available secondary schools which currently stands at about 7,500,” said Wasanga.

This year for example the distribution of marks was as follows:-

The Ministry of Education has been trying to create more criteria for ranking schools to avoid reliance on examination performance only. These new parameters for meriting schools’ holistic performance alongside academic performance include attributes such as:-

(a)          School leadership and governance

(b)          Co-curricular activities

(c)           School infrastructure,

(d)          Physical facilities

(e)          Environment management,

(f)           Peace and integration in schools,

(g)          Friendliness of schools,

(h)          Principal of the Year Award (POYA)

(i)            Teacher of the Year Award (TOYA).

Such aspects will be merited separately and best performing schools will be recognized. According to Education Minister Mutula Kilonzo, these are the best schools this year in KCPE merited for being the most child- friendly:

The Openbook Blog commends these schools for their exemplary performance in the 2012 academic year.

Bryan Tumwa

Bryan Tumwa has contributed 157 awesome article(s) for The Openbook Blog.

Bryan Tumwa is a bilingual editor. He is an avid lover of the arts, more so modern art which includes creative writing, animations and graphics. His interests include blogging, reading, socializing and playing FIFA on his PC.

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