Let examinations be set by teachers across all levels of schools

Posted on March 4, 2011 by admin

If you went through some selected national schools, then you agree with me that the questions on the examination papers during KCSE are no strangers. Their familiarity is as good as the revision questions done a few weeks before the national examinations.

This leaves us with only one deductions, these teachers are the ones that set thenational examinations, otherwise even if they were angels, how would they ‘time’ examinations with such accuracy of word to word in a sentence?

Only KNEC knows who sets examinations, but it would this nation right if such teachers who set examination come across all levels of schools in the republic. National schools have state of art facilities, they are given the best teachers as each teachers aims to teach in a national school, they set the examinations, they mark the examinations.

So where does it leave the child in a rural school? children who see a calculator only during the examination? a child whose only interaction with a test tube is when they visit a ‘neighbouring school ( read 250 km away)?

Posted in KCSE 2010 | 8 Comments

KCSE marking scheme on a mission to ensure children fail exminations

Posted on March 4, 2011 by admin

The kenya national examinations council need a serious retreat at white sands at the coast to reflect on the examination systems in Kenya. Marking of examinations make stupid every effort most children put to attain a brighter future. The marking of examinations guided by one person or a group of few individuals who decide on what is the right answer ensures that the naswers are schewed towards their thinking.

Marking schemes do not give a child room to be creative. Some like in the literature and fasihi where broader resoning should be embraced are so fixed that if the scheme says the president of Kenya is Mwai Kibaki, whoever writes Kibaki Mwai has no Chance of scoring a mark leave alone another who may write Emilio Kibaki.

In sciences it is even worse. The scheme look for all sorts of excuses to ensure that they brand the Kenyan child stupid in the eyes of the world. In tis abstract subjects even the way you write symblos or spelling cancels all efforts one has made.
Simply, the marking scheme determines what marks you get and not what you know in that subject. We have seen doctors, surgeons who cannot speak good english, so why should ones handwritting styles and spelling mistakes fail him/her.
I repeat again, KNEC needs a break!

Posted in GENERAL, KCSE 2010 | 6 Comments