Learners in Grades 3, 4 and 5 in primary schools yesterday began their national tests as part of their school based assessments.
Those sitting for the CBA are in Grade 3, Grade 4 and Grade 5. The same sat for assessment integrated learning areas last term and now they are handling theoretical papers.
Grade 3 will tackle Mathematics and English activities while pupils from other Grades will tackle subjects including Agriculture, Science and technology, Social studies, Music, Art and Craft, Home Science, CRE and Physical Education.
Afterwards they will be required to mark the test at school level and upload the results to the KNEC portal by February 21.
The assessment test involves written tests provided to learners by the Kenya National Examinations Council. The tests are uploaded on their portal and are to be downloaded and administered to learners.
The mode of assessment is cumulative with marks attained at the end of the test being added up in the final paper that a candidate does.
Competence Based Curriculum, CBC, allows learners to showcase what they are capable of doing, unlike the 8-4-4 system which was result-oriented.
Taking of tests has so far been coupled with few hiccups.
In some parts of Nyanza, poor network coverage impeded the administration of the examinations.
Some schools in Homa Bay County did not start the examination yesterday as expected due congestion in the network, which hampered downloading of examination papers.
In some areas, teachers had to travel more than 30 km to access cyber cafes to download the examination.
Some of the schools have large populations and downloading a bulk of the work takes time to produce enough copies for the children.
Expenses involved in producing enough materials for the learners is another challenge that has affected administration of tests.