Numerous A grades in 2015 KCSE results due to easy exams

The high number of students who score A in our national examinations has continued to rise and the trend is worrying. One may be forced to ask whether Kenyan children have all of a sudden become so intelligent to the extent of a whole school scooping a mean grade of A! This high score of A grades simply means that the exams are easy, the marking is suspect or our students are pure genius. It's not rocket science to find out which is which.

While the opposite is also true, school heads and teachers have admitted that the growing number of students who attain the top score had diluted grade A. On the contrary, KNEC’s exams are lacking in applications and synthesis competency where questions are just simple thus diluting the value of marks awarded. One can also say that cheating cases have been on the rise, and that teachers can predict the questions being set by KNEC.

Precisely, getting an A grade in Kenya has become so easy unlike the past. One wonders how entire schools of over 100 students can get a mean grade of A during the release of national examinations. It’s laughable though to see how KNEC is defending an all of a sudden increment of A grades! Sources at KNEC, however, said that the number of candidates sitting examinations had gone up, explaining the rising number of As. One therefore wonders is KNEC setting too simple questions or is it the marking process that is shoddy? Are today’s children genius?  It's not rocket science to find out which is which! Hundreds of thousands of students are getting mean grade of As while other hundreds are getting the lowest grades ever. Unfair distribution of grades has left many Kenyans wondering of the level of quality assurance at KNEC. Some schools have posted clean As meaning all students in that school were geniuses and with no other variant!

Professional moderation which is a quality assurance process that ensures appropriate standards is highly lacking at KNEC. The process of ensuring that marks or grades are awarded appropriately and consistently is vague. But what influences successful moderation of grades? The amount of effort required depends on factors such as the degree of subjectivity, variability in student work, the amount of inconsistency that can be tolerated, and the number of examiners, past experience of examiners, and the time and cost that can be afforded.

There is a need for a major paradigm shift where national examinations would be the epitome of innovation. A curriculum for national schools should be made more challenging to help produce innovators. I think that KNEC and the entire country's examination system have failed Kenyans. Quality assurance of examination results is highly wanting! There is a serious need to reevaluate the modus operandi of exam moderation and quality assurance at KNEC!

Dr. Njenga, Solomon

School of Governance, Peace and Security

Africa Nazarene University, Kenya