KNEC Issues New Guidelines and Dates for Grade 7 National Assessment
Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has announced that it will be uploading School Based Assessment (SBA) tools for Grade 7 and Pre-Vocational Level on its CBA portal.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, through a circular sent to all headteachers across the country. To access the assessment portal, headteachers are required to log in onto the CBA portal: https://cba.knec.ac.ke.
In case of any password challenges, schools are advised to contact their respective Sub-county Director of Education for resetting of the password. Schools will be expected to administer the assessment tools, score, and upload the assessment outcomes of all learners on the CBA portal.
SBA tools for Grade 7 will be provided in two formats: PDF format and digital format through the CBA portal. To access the tools in PDF format, schools will be required to log in using their school credentials.
They will then access the tools in PDF format and download them. The tools will then be given to learners in either print format, projected on the screen, or written on the board. Depending on the format adopted, learners may write their responses on the question paper or on the provided writing materials provided by the school.
To access the tools in digital format, individual learners will be required to log onto the portal using their respective assessment numbers. Upon logging in, learners will access the tools directly via digital devices such as the Digital Learning Programme (DLP) tablets available in schools.
Learners will be expected to give their responses on writing materials provided by the school. The two formats of assessment tools will be displayed on the CBA portal dashboard using different buttons. Schools are encouraged to allow learners to access the tools directly using the DLPs or any other available digital devices such as desktop computers and laptops.
This will help schools save on printing costs. Those who may have challenges with the direct access may opt for the PDF format.
Pre-Vocational Leve SBA tools
SBA tools for Pre-Vocational Level will be accessed on PDF format by their teachers. Teachers will assess the learners as they undertake the performance-based tasks and score using the guidelines provided in the tool. A detailed user manual describing step-by-step on how to access the tools, instructions, scoring guides, and how to upload learners’ scores is available on the CBA portal.
The assessment tools with colored images should be printed in color or loaded on the digital devices available in the school. The learners should answer the questions using separate answer sheets provided by the school. In schools where the digital devices are inadequate, the assessments can be done in shifts.
Headteachers are requested to keep all records and evidence generated from the assessments. The materials required for the assessments should be obtained from the immediate school environment or improvised as much as possible.
The announcement has been welcomed by stakeholders in the education sector, who have praised KNEC for making the assessment tools available online. According to the stakeholders, this move will help to reduce the administrative burden on teachers and headteachers, who will no longer have to physically collect and submit the assessment papers.
However, some stakeholders have expressed concerns about the availability of digital devices in schools. According to them, many schools in the country lack the necessary infrastructure to support digital learning. They have called on the government to invest more in the education sector to ensure that all schools have access to digital devices.
KNEC Issues New Guidelines and Dates for Grade 7 National Assessment