The Ministry of Education has announced plans to change the grading structure of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations to reflect the dominant aptitudes and interests of learners.

Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS), Belio Kipsang said the grading will take into account the literacy and numeracy abilities of learners.

However, he said it will allow the overall grading of the learners to include the best five subjects instead of grading them across subject clusters as has been the case since the inception of 8.4.4 system of education.

He was speaking during the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the presidential working party on education reforms to the members of the Departmental Committee on Education of the National Assembly at a Mombasa.

The report of PWPER made recommendations on assessment and included a review of the grading system of KCSE to accord with the international standards that inform the grading of students at KCSE.

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Kipsang said the grading in any national education system is for certification and not placement of students in higher education.

According to him, many students with diverse backgrounds in terms of their abilities and interests have suffered as a result of the integration of certification and placement in the KCSE grading framework.

However, the Principal Secretary stated that in addition to their results in mathematics and either English or Kiswahili, pupils in the remaining cohort of the 8.4.4 will also be judged on their achievement in five other courses.

He claimed that a student with aptitude and desire in engineering or medicine shouldn't be disqualified from enrolling in those courses just because the topic utilized to assess him reduced his total Mean Grade.

Additionally, Kipsang stated that the National Government Administration Officers (NGAO) would be integrated into the County Education Board (CEB) system.

He said membership of County Commissioners in CEB will ensure that regulations and instructions are enforced and that harmony is established in an environment with different cultural and other diversities.

Kipsang said the recommendations of the PWPER was about improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of education services.

“The current policy thrust of education is not only keen on ensuring that all children attend school. It is also as much keen, if not keener, that all children get optimal learning experience, regardless of the social background, physical or mental condition."