After 38 years, the Kenya Certificate for Primary Education Examinations (KCPE) will finally come to an end as the final cohort sits the exams.
As the nearly four-decade-old 8-4-4 system is phased out, 1,415, 315 candidates will take the final KCPE beginning Monday.
The 8-4-4 curriculum is being replaced by the Competency-Based Curriculum, which has a 2-6-6-3 system.
The government has established the system as the most reliable method of providing learners with relevant skills.
The exam-based and competitive 8-4-4 system puts a lot of pressure on students to perform well.
The Star spoke to Maria Goretti Nyariki who sat the first ever exam in 1985.
Nyariki said the exam did not have as much pressure as it came to have in recent years.
In her opinion, the pressure to perform highly has led to a dilution of results.
“Generally examinations have been diluted. Because you see in those days when you got an A, B, or whatever, you have really worked hard. But these days because of a lot of corruption and stealing of exams the authenticity is not there. The pressure to deliver good results diluted the authenticity of the exams,” Nyariki said.
In her opinion, the pressure to perform also led to the commercialization of exams as there was so much interest from the school and the parents in performance.
“So the learner is pushed and pressured to meet the interests of other people,” she said.
Nyariki said though CBC has its own challenges and a lot are questioning whether it will really suffice, she said a lot of resources are needed to implement it for it to be successful.
