Teachers countrywide Tuesday administered the Grade Three assessment in a strict and controlled examination-like environment contrary to government assertions that the Monitoring Learner Progress (MLP) exercise is not an examination.
This is an indication that the teaching fraternity failed the Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) test.
A spot check by the Nation shows a clear disconnect between government policy and reality on the ground as schools and parents have taken to the exercise and created the same atmosphere associated with traditional examinations that CBC aims to get rid of.
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Some schools had rehearsals for the assessment on Monday and others even have invigilators to oversee the exercise, which Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha and Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang have said is only meant to measure the success and challenges of the new curriculum.
However, teachers blamed the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) for not giving clear guidelines on how the assessment should be conducted. They also complained that the training they received during the April and August holidays was inadequate.
On Monday, Dr Kipsang said teachers are at liberty to administer the assessment at their convenience as long as all the tasks are given to the learners and assessed by the time schools close on October 25. Many teachers are struggling to complete the exercise by Friday this week. This was triggered by a timetable that has been doing rounds but which Dr Kipsang says is fake.
“Knec has failed to do its work. How can they just post the papers online with no instructions on administration of the assessment? A circular would have been sufficient,” a teacher who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation said.
