A report by the Kenya National Examinations Council has unearthed the deteriorating standards of education under the Curriculum Based Education. The National Assessment System for Monitoring Learner Achievement Grade 3 study report has found out that 73.2 percent of all Grade 3 kids are unable to perform basic math. These learners failed to attain the minimum proficiency in numeracy.
At the same time, 58.9 percent of learners in this grade failed in basic English literacy. Nationally, the study established that only 26.8 percent of learners were able to attain the benchmark of 50 percent at Level 4 in numeracy while only 41.4 managed the same in English language activities.
However, the baseline findings were more dismal, with only 23.9 percent of learners achieving Level 4 benchmark in English and only 15.8 percent of learners achieving 15.8 percent in mathematics.
The study was conducted by KNEC through the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning program (KPEEL). The report attributed the falling levels of literacy in Grade 3 in Kenya on absenteeism by the teachers, unequal access to learning materials including textbooks, supplementary books, class readers and other learning assistive devices by learners, and poor basic infrastructure.
“The Ministry of Education should provide adequate teaching and learning resources such as textbooks, supplementary books and class readers as well as other resources,” KNEC recommended in the report.
The rate of teacher absenteeism due to sick days and official duties was found to be at 44.4 percent nationally. This rate increased to 62.5 percent in informal settlement schools, and 75 percent in refugee camp schools.
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This report by KNEC is the latest to sound alarm bells on the state of the education sector in Kenya. Two years ago, a report by Usawa Agenda that assessed 39,298 children aged 6 years to 15 years in 1,813 public and private primary schools found that two in ten class 8 learners could not read a Grade 3 English text.
At the same time, 3 in 10 Grade 6 learners failed to read a Grade 3 text while 2 in 5 Grade 4 learners failed the assessment.
