KNEC Issues Guidelines For Grade 4 Assessments March 2021

According to the Taskforce on ‘Enhancing Access, Relevance, Transition, Equity and Quality for Effective Curriculum Reforms Implementation which was released by H.E. the President of the Republic of Kenya on 9th February 2021, formative assessments for Grades 4, 5 and 6 are expected to account for 60% of the National Assessment at the end of Grade 6.

The Taskforce also recommended that learners at the Intermediate Level of the stage–based curriculum pathway will be assessed for the purposes of tracking learners‘ progress and informing transition to pre–vocation level.

In a bid to achieve this, schools are expected to submit assessment outcomes of learners who are currently in Grade 4 to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), which will contribute to 20% of the final Grade 6 assessment.

Assessment Tools

KNEC will be uploading the 2020 Grade 4 Age Based and Intermediate Level Stage Based assessment tools by 7th March 2021 for schools to access and use.

The tools will cover the following subjects:

Age Based Curriculum (Regular) Pathway: 

1. Mathematics;
2. Social Studies;
3. English; 
4. Kiswahili;
5. Christian Religious Education (CRE);  
6. Islamic Religious Education (IRE);
7. Kenyan Sign Language;
8. Hindu Religious Education (HRE);
9. Science and Technology;
10. Home Science;
11. Agriculture;
12. Physical and Health Education.
13. Music;
14. Art and Craft;

Stage Based Curriculum Pathway: 

1. Communication, Social and Literacy Skills;
2. Daily Living Skills and Religious Education;
3.  Numeracy Activities;
4.  Creative Activities;
5. Environmental Activities;
6.  Psychomotor Activities; and
7.  Sensory Motor Integration. 

The 2020 Grade 4 learners will not be assessed in indigenous and foreign languages awaiting guidelines on implementation of the same.

Assessment

Schools are expected to download and administer the assessment tools; score; and upload the Grade 4 learners‘ assessment scores on the KNEC Competency Based Assessment portal (cba.knec.ac.ke) between 8th and 19th March 2021. 

The materials required for performing the assessment tasks should be improvised as much as possible within the immediate school environment.

Biodata

Schools will not be expected to upload learners‘ biodata afresh since this data was uploaded during administration of Grade 3 MLP assessment.

Schools will however be allowed to edit the following details for learners if need arises:

1. Name of the learner;
2.  Correct order of name;
3.  Gender of the learner;
4.  Birth Certificate Number;
5.  Date of birth of the learner;
6.  Nationality/Citizenship of the learner;
7.  Type of Special Needs and Disability;
8.  Pathway (Age Based or Stage Based).

Correction(s)

In case of any other amendments such as deletion/transfer cases, new enrolments or any other amendment on the existing learners‘ details apart from the ones listed above, the school will be expected to contact the Sub County Director of Education (SCDE) or KNEC.

The SCDEs shall be given rights to access the Grade Four Portal and effect transfer(s), add new learners, delete or effect amendments of learner‘s bio data. 

Unique Identifier Number (UIN)

KNEC will issue each learner in the database with an assessment number (Unique Identifier Number) automatically generated by the KNEC ICT system. This number will be used to identify the learner during future assessments.

Schools will be expected to inform parents and learners of their Assessment numbers, which shall be used throughout their basic education cycle for KNEC assessments.