The Kenya Certificate of Education (KCPE) will be abolished once the new curriculum is approved for use in schools.
Instead, learners will be tested through continuous assessment tests, according to the curriculum developer.
“The national examination simply eliminates some children and declares them as failures when they are hardly 18 years,” Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Director Dr Julius Jwan said.
At such an age, it is wrong to leave them drop out of schools because they did not attain the requisite grade to transition to secondary schools, yet, the law doesn’t allow them to seek jobs.
He spoke during the launch of a Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) at St Joseph’s Busia Girls’ Primary School in Busia County.
Dr Jwan said the 980, 848 tablets issued in 18,069 out of 21,729 schools country wide, representing more than 80 per cent, will enhance teaching and learning.
“The devices are not meant to replace a teacher, but, to complement and make delivery of content more exciting and practical,” Dr Jwan said yesterday.
Already, 1,806 teachers have been trained on use of ICT in Busia County, with only 85 primary schools not yet supplied with the devices.
National digital literacy will increase as teachers and learners use the ICT skills to search for, analyse, integrate, manage and evaluate information.
Dr Jwan said the curriculum shifts learning from mere memory and recitation of facts to application of knowledge and skills.
The number of subjects under the 2-6-3-3 education system that seeks to replace the widely criticised 8-4-4 will be reduced, to create room for identification and nurturing of talents, besides, academic ability.
“The curriculum set for implementation in January starting with ECD up to class three, will reduce the volume of homework children go home to allow them play. The focus has been so much on class work,” Dr Jwan said.
Curriculum developers are developing more learning materials that will be used in third term, when the final evaluation of the success of the piloting will be undertaken.
The new system has three tiers: Early years, consisting of Pre-primary One to Grade Three; middle-school, comprising Grades Four to nine and senior school, running from Grade 10 to 12.
Related: 60-year-old mother sits for KCPE
ICT Authority Project Manager Thomas Odhiambo said the digital literacy program initiated by the government in 2013 as one of its flagship projects aims at integrating ICT in education in line with vision 2030.
The program targeting primary schools, he said focuses on the country’s long term vision of creating knowledge based economy in line with the country’s development blue print.
The project is being implemented through a multi-stakeholder approach that involves different line ministries and state corporations.
The education content uploaded on the tablets was developed by KICD according to the syllabus requirements for various levels of education.
The language of instruction in the tablets has been simplified for ease of understanding among the targeted learners.
