Action for Life Skills and Values in East Africa(ALiVE) has piloted assessment tools for 6 to 12-year-olds aimed at easing the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum.
ALIVE, an affiliate of Zizi Afrique Foundation, piloted the assessment tools on Tuesday in three different schools.
Teachers from Kamahindu primary in Kiambu, Westlands primary in Nairobi and Ngurubani primary in Kirinyaga conducted an assessment with learners of Grades 4,6 and 8.
The learners were assessed in areas they have already learnt in Grades 3,5 and 7.
University of Melbourne in Australia Professor Esther Care said the assessments tested whether learners can apply generic skills like problem-solving, collaboration and communication as well as be respectful.
Prof Care said they want to see if learners can apply the skills they learn within the context of their curriculum studies.
“It is not just about whether they can solve problems in their lives. It is more of how they can apply a particular approach to thinking about materials in social sciences that will help them understand the material better,” she said.
Prof Care said the assessments will also show teachers different techniques to ensure learners grasp what is taught in classrooms.
Zizi Afrique Assessment and Advocacy Officer Elizabeth Owiti said the piloting of assessment tools for 6 to 12-year-olds is preparation for an assessment meant to be conducted nationwide midyear.
“We're hoping the national assessment can take place sometime in May. After the piloting, we hope the feedback we get will improve the tools and the assessment process,” Owiti said.
She said there is a need to ensure learners are equipped with the key competencies under CBC.
Owiti said they had noticed a gap in the education sector, which is low foundational learning.
“ We had a first assessment that showed our learners don't have problem-solving skills. From that report we came up with tools to equip the teachers to help learners,” she said.
Zizi Afrique Director of Research Maurice Mutisya said they hope to generate evidence which can be used to make decisions in the education sector.
He noted that the program is running in EA, including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
“What informed this initiative is we are seeing shifts in the education sector like the CBC. Part of shifts in CBC is the integration of key competencies that children have to learn,” Mutisya said.
Mutisya said what is critical in knowing how to measure the learner's ability to solve problems, communicate and collaborate.
“We are developing assessment tools to see how can the system shift to also measure some of these skills that are not exam oriented,” he said.
He said over 45,000 adolescents from East Africa aged between 13 and 17 years have already been assessed.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education, Kenya National Examination Council and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development were engaged in the assessment exercise.
Kamahindi Primary Headteacher Margret Nzioka said teachers are still adapting to CBC adding that a challenge of resource mobilisation is crippling the new curriculum.
Nzioka said the tutors being posted for JSS have only undergone retooling once, which forces her to train them once upon arrival.
During the piloting, three approaches to the administration of the tool were tested.
The first was an oral assessment, then an oral assessment combined with pen and paper and finally a pure pen and paper assessment.
ALIVE in its initiative aims to ensure children in East Africa acquire life skills and values for them to thrive both during and beyond school.
Teachers were greatly involved in coming up with the assessment tools.
In November and December of 2023, Zizi Afrique convened 18 teachers from 6 counties to learn from Prof Care who is a globally renowned expert in the measurement of core competencies and values.
Over the two months, the teachers went through 7-module practical learning sessions on the development of tools to assess core competencies and values through face-to-face interactions.
It was then that the teachers developed tools to assess problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and respect.
These have been integrated into Environmental Activities in Grade 3, Science and Social Studies in Grade 5, and Integrated Scie Social Studies, and Creative Arts and Sports in Grade 7.
The tools have undergone Think Aloud/Cognitive laboratories learners, where initial revisions were made based on feedback.
One teacher at the end of the pilot exercise said he had observed that most learners are better at collaboration than problem-solving.
“Girls are also better at solving problems,” the tutor said.