Over 400, 000 pupils in grade three in Eastern region started their Competence Based Curriculum assessment test.
During an inspection tour of the progress of the exercise, Eastern Regional Director of Education, Mr. Patrick Khaemba stated the assessment is to gauge performance of certain tasks and grading the pupils generally without awarding marks.
“Unlike the past where we relied on written tests with the sole purpose of getting who is better than who, CBC assessment focus on evaluating the learners on ability to perform certain tasks,” noted Mr. Khaemba.
The Regional Director pointed out that the CBC assessment had created anxiety among the teachers and learners adding during his visits to schools in Kitui and Mwingi, he saw learners being engaged in making of equipment such as improvised wheelbarrows and aprons.
“Soon Kenyans will appreciate that learners are not competing for positions but enjoying their tasks.” remarked Khaemba.
Mr. Khaemba singled out negative attitude towards the system as the main challenge they were facing.
“There has been misconception that one can learn only when tested by writing and ranked and now quite a number of teachers have been trained and are on the forefront advocating for the CBC. The system is more relieving and work is easy,” he noted.
Iveche primary school head teacher, Joyce Njamio noted that the CBC had made learning interesting that resulted to a rise in enrollment
Njamio added that they were already identifying talents from these young learners.
“The enrollment of the school has gone high by 5 per cent and we are receiving learners who have been transferred from private schools,” observed Ms. Njamio.
She further highlighted that the school had engaged all the parents concerning the new curriculum and teachers have been trained and are looking forward to the continuous training in future.
Ms. Njamio stated that use of improved materials made it interesting and cheaper for parents and allowed learners to sharpen their minds and creativity.