Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi has urged African countries to prioritise education reforms.
Speaking on Monday when he presided over the 39th Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA) conference that is going on in Nairobi, Mudavadi said this is the only way Africa will remain competitive globally.
Mudavadi said there is an urgent need to provide equal opportunities for all learners across the continent in a bid to have competent and productive graduates in Africa.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary made the remarks as he lauded the role examiners and assessors play in African countries.
He said, as professionals, they determine the true abilities of every learner in the education system.
He said that no other profession demands integrity, honesty and ethics like the psychometricians, educators and researchers because they determine the fate of countries whose most crucial asset is the human resource.
“Governments rely on products you have molded to make investments, policies, job placements, reviews, and reforms.
"Your logistical assignment is usually bigger as assessors and examiners because you are reaching out to even more masses just like the electoral bodies. For examiners and assessors, your area has not really ended up to petitions, which means you are doing something right,” he added.
Mudavadi said Kenya has institutionalised the use of school-based assessments so that learning is informed by prompt assessment feedback.
He said AEAA's theme for this year’s conference, ‘Educational Assessment for nurturing every learner’s potential’ speaks to this transformation.
He also said the theme is timely for Kenya since it is transiting to the new educational system of Competency Based Curriculum (CBC).
“While we are faced with emerging challenges resulting from technological advancement and appropriate assessment for CBC, we look forward to best practice takeaways from this conference that will guarantee no learner is left behind on account of assessments under CBC,” Mudavadi assured.
He said Kenya has placed a high premium on research and the use of empirical data to inform policy and practice.
Mudavadi noted that recommendations from discussions around the use of data will require cross-engagement of the Ministries of Education and ICT, Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for effective implementation.
Similarly, he explained that the sub-theme on ‘Enhancing Technical, Vocational and Occupational Assessment including Recognition of Prior Learning” is critical.
“It is my hope that the discussions under this sub-theme will enrich our on-going policy dialogues on how TVET graduates can be more compliant with the needs of industry,” he said.
Kenya has embarked on a digital transformation that envisages the provision of digital jobs because of dwindling white-collar job opportunities.
This, he said calls for leveraging ICT in learning, teaching and assessment.
“Our desire is that learners are agile and ready to embrace the needs of the 21st Century workplace. We, therefore, hope to benefit from Conference discussions on leveraging ICT in assessment,” he stated.
