KCSE 2020 Agriculture (443) Projects KNEC Instructions

Instructions to Schools

• Each school which is presenting candidates for Agriculture (443) in the KCSE examination for the year 2020 will produce two copies of this document. One copy of the document will be for the School Principal and the other one for the teacher in charge of Agriculture project hereafter referred to as the Agriculture teacher.
• The School Principal and the Agriculture teacher should each read the document carefully. Relevant information should then be conveyed to the candidates as soon as possible to enable them to carry out the project in good time.
• There are two alternative projects, namely Project A and Project B. Each school should select
  only one alternative. It is therefore necessary for the Agriculture teacher to discuss the alternatives with the School Principal and the candidates so as to select the most appropriate alternative.
•  TheAgriculture Teacher will mark all candidates’ projects.
• The projects should be accessible to monitoring by authorised KNEC agent(s).

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. The Agriculture teacher and School Principal should discuss the alternative projects and make a suitable choice for the school as soon as this document is received from the Kenya
   National Examinations Council (KNEC). The Agriculture Teacher should then brief the candidates on the requirements of the project.
2. These instructions, together with the marking schemes should then be printed and distributed to all the candidates.
3.  Each candidate should read the instructions, conceptualize and write a brief description of the project, execution procedures, requirements, estimated quantities of the inputs and their costs. The candidate should keep this write up in his or her project portfolio (file or folder).
   The portfolio can be physical or electronic in a computer or other digital storage devices.
   The candidate should then submit a summary of his/her project requirements to the Agriculture teacher who will then compile, for the school to provide the inputs.
4. Each candidate will maintain a collection of pictorial evidence on his/her performance on the specified milestones at different stages of project implementation. The pictorial evidences should be maintained in a folder / project portfolio, which should accessible to KNEC monitoring officials.
5. The candidates are individually required to keep records of their project activities which they will later use to write the final project report. Each candidate should be supplied with
   adequate number of ruled A4 papers on which to write the project report. The report should be between 1, 000 and 1, 500 words. In addition, each candidate should be given a declaration form, which will make the first page of the report.
6. The school should provide adequate security for the candidates’ projects.
7.  The project chosen by the school must be seen and treated as an examination. It must therefore be the candidate’s true and unaided work.
8. The Agriculture teacher should assess each candidate’s project from time to time using the marking scheme and time lines provided by KNEC and enter the marks in the individual
   candidate project assessment sheets. The scores awarded by the Agriculture teacher should be objective and kept confidential. Awarding fictitious scores to activities that have not been carried
   will henceforth be treated as examination malpractice.
9. Marks should be entered in the project assessment sheets immediately after each assessment.
10.  The Agriculture teacher should then transfer the total score of each candidate from the assessment sheet to the manual mark sheet. The index numbers of candidates should be
    entered in ascending order ensuring that all candidates have the same Index Numbers as in the final examination.
11.  All the project assessment records must be kept under lock and key in the School Principal’s office in a sealed envelope. They should only be made available to the Agriculture teacher or
    an authorised KNEC agent whenever the project is being assessed or. monitored The records must be returned to the School Principal immediately after each assessment.
12. The School Principal should check to ensure that scores are entered on the assessment sheets after every assessment. In the absence of the School Principal, the Deputy School Principal should be in charge of the custody of the documents.
13. The candidate scores together with a photograph showing the project status for the entire class at the time the last assessment was done will be uploaded on the KNEC Portal twice, by 31st March and 15th July as milestone I and Milestone II respectively. The KNEC portal will only be accessible during the specified time lines and scores once uploaded will not be accessed for alteration.
14. The photograph should be in .gif or .jpeg format. It should capture the school Principal, Agriculture teacher and candidates standing at their respective projects in full school uniform as shown in the sample photographs below. This should be done following the time lines specified.

PROJECT A: ESTABLISHMENT OF TREE NURSERY

1.  The Project work should be carried out by the candidates in the Form IV class between January and end of second term.
2.  The tree species selected should be suited to the ecological zone of the school. The school/candidates can select as many different tree species as possible to cater for a variety
   of needs such as fruits, poles, timber, fodder, soil and water conservation, nitrogen fixation, among others.
3.  The school principal and the agriculture teacher should discuss and decide on an appropriate site for the school tree nursery. This should be done in consideration of the factors that
   determine a good site for a tree nursery.
4.  The school should facilitate the setting up and preparation of the site for the tree nursery to ensure it is secure, gently sloping, accessible, near a reliable source of water (river, pond, tap,
   water tank or a drum(s) to store water) and well sheltered. The site should be ready by the end of January.
5.  The school should also ensure that candidates have access to the following by 15th February:
   a) deep well drained fertile soil (from the forest or collected under trees)
   b) well decomposed organic manure
   c) sand
   d) potting tubes e.g. empty milk packets, cut plastic bottles, water cups, etc.
6. In the month of February, the school should acquire pre-germinated seeds or pre-germinate seeds in the nursery to provide them to the candidates at the time of potting. Candidates can
   also collect already germinated seeds under mature trees for potting. The collection of already germinated seeds should be done from many different trees.
7.  Each candidate is expected to raise at least 200 potted tree seedlings. The potted seedlings should be arranged in rows of 10 x 20 pots in the tree nursery site. Each bed of the potted seedlings should be properly labelled with the candidate’s details. Paths not less than 50 cm wide should be left between the beds. The beds should be arranged according to the candidates’ Index Numbers in ascending order. The spaces for the beds should allocated to
   the candidates by the end of January.
8.  After bed allocation, candidates should be instructed to carry out potting and pricking out. These should be completed by the end of February.
   Potting: This is the process of putting soil in containers, tubes or bags to raise seedlings.
   The soil should be moist enough to run freely into the tube and easily firmed to form the bottom of the tube. The potting mixture should consist of soil, sand and organic manure in the ratio of 2:1:1.
   Potting procedure:
   i. Ensure that containers are open at both ends or have holes at the bottom to allow movement of water and healthy root development
   ii. Take the soil mixture and moisten it by sprinkling some water on it, ensure it is neither too dry nor too wet
   iii. Put the moistened soil into the containers; press the lower part (3/4) of the container while the upper quarter should be loose. Heavy compaction at the top makes seed sowing difficult
   and inhibits root penetration.
9. The Agriculture Teacher should assess each candidate’s project using the marking scheme provided by KNEC.
10.  Each candidate’s project report should be marked out of 20 marks using the guidelines provided by KNEC. All the marks for each candidate should be entered in the appropriate column on the assessment sheet.
11.  The Agriculture teacher should assess each candidate’s project at least four times (two times for the Milestone I and the other two for Milestone II) using the marking scheme provided by KNEC. The assessments should be done during the months of February, March, May, June and July. Each assessment should be out of the marks specified in the marking scheme.
12. The score for each milestone will be the average of the number of assessments made. The total score for each of the two milestone be out of 50 so that the sum of scores for milestones I and II is 100.
13.  The Agriculture teacher should ensure that the marks are entered in ascending order of index numbers.
14.  The total score of each candidate should be transferred from the assessment sheet to the manual mark sheet. Ensure that these scores are entered according to candidates’ index
    numbers in ascending order.
15.  The project should be concluded and handed over to the school by the end of second term.

PROJECTT B: ZERO GRAZING GOAT REARING1.

1. The project shall be carried out from January and candidates should conclude it by the end of second term, when they should hand over the project to the school. The school should then make appropriate decision and arrangement on how best to rear the goat or dispose of them.
2. Schools choosing this project shall be required to provide each candidate with the following facilities:

(a) Housing
i. Each goat should be housed singly in a cubicle measuring 1.2m long, 1.0m wide and 1.5m in height. A single house can therefore have several cubicles. The cubicles may be singly or in several units attached horizontally.
ii. The floor of the house can either be raised or made on the ground. For raised floors, they should be made from slatted wood raised 1.0m – 1.5m above the ground.
iii. The floor can also be concrete or gravel (murram) for ground houses. For goats
reared in ground houses, the cubicles should be fitted in the house and an area set aside for exercise and sunning. Alternatively, the house should be oriented to allow in sunlight in the morning and late afternoon hours.
iv. Good ventilation is essential but the house should protect animals from wind and rain. Local materials such as off-cuts, poles and sticks can be used to construct the house. The cubicles should be equipped with feed and water troughs so that the goats can be fed indoors.

Each candidate should be provided with a cubicle by the end of February at the
latest. It is important to ensure the following:
(i) The cubicle is well ventilated and lit;
(ii) The roof is waterproof;
(iii) The floor of the cubicle is made of slatted timber (for raised house),
concrete or gravel (murram) for ground.
(iv) Cubicles may be singly or in several units attached horizontally.
(v) Cubicles can be placed indoors or outdoors depending on design and
security arrangements.
(vi) Each cubicle should be lockable. One of the keys to the cubicle should be
labelled and kept at the Head teacher’s office. The other key should be kept by the candidate for regular use.
Each candidate should
(i) Write his or her full index number on the cubicle.
(iv) Equip the cubicle with a record keeping card.
(v) Inventively make other preparation on the cubicle to make it ready for rearing the goat.

(b) Goat
(i) A school selecting this project can acquire weaned goats which are 4-5
months of age and give them to  candidates by 1st March 2020.
(ii) Each candidate should be provided with one goat (male or female).
(iii) The school may obtain goats from any reputable source.
Note: Procurement of goats is the responsibility of the school and not
that of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

(c) Weighing machine
The school should provide a portable weighing machine such as a spring balance, that can be used to weigh up-to 15 kg.

(d) Feeds
The school should provide enough fodder (Napier and other grasses) to each candidate for feeding the goat. Supplements (Calliandra, Leucaena, Desmodium, grains and milling by-products, minerals, molasses) which provide essential nutrients, such as protein, energy and minerals should also be provided.

3. After the candidates have been provided with the facilities outlined in (2) above, they should be instructed to:

(a) Weigh the two goats accurately and record their average weights on a record card.
(b) Rear the goats up to the end of second term by appropriately carrying out the
recommended rearing practices.
(c) Keep records of the activities carried out and observations made during the rearing period. These records will be used by the candidates to write their final report. The records should be written on a record card and hung securely inside the cubicle.
(d) Avail the records to the Agriculture teacher or KNEC agent whenever required.

6. The Agriculture teacher should assess each candidate’s project at least four times (two times for the Milestone I and the other two for Milestone II) using the marking scheme provided by KNEC. The assessments should be done during the months of March, May June and July. Each assessment should be out of the marks specified in the marking scheme.
7. Each candidate’s project report should be marked out of 20 marks using the guidelines provided by KNEC. All the marks for each candidate should be entered in the appropriate column on the assessment sheet.
8. The score for each milestone will be the average of the number of assessments made. The total score for each of the two milestone should be out of 50 (the total for each milestone should converted to a total mark that is out of 50) so that the sum of scores for milestones I and II is 100.
9. The Agriculture teacher should ensure that the marks are entered in ascending order of index numbers.