The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) was administered between October 28 and November 1, in readiness for transition of pioneer cohort of CBC learners to Grade 9 in January 2025.
All the 1,303,913 candidates who sat the KPSEA across 35,573 centres countrywide will transition to Grade 9, which is still domiciled within their respective primary schools.
The number is about 300,000 less than the over 1.6 million Grade 6 learners who sat the inaugural KPSEA in October 2022, marking their transition to Junior school.
KPSEA focused on learners' competencies across nine learning areas as opposed to the high-stakes KCPE which laid emphasis on high scores.
Learners will not be ranked but the KPSEA will account for 20 per cent score, which will be combined with 20 per cent school-based assessment in Grades 7 and 60 per cent summative evaluation to be administered at the end of Grade 9.
Grade 9 will mark the final phase of Junior school after which learners will transition to Senior school in 2026 where they will have an opportunity to choose career pathways.
There are nine learning areas in Grade 9:English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, CRE/IRE/HRE and Agriculture.
Others are Social studies (History, Geography, Life skills); Pre-technical studies (Business studies, Computer studies); Creative Arts & Sports (Art/Craft/PE, Visual arts) and Integrated science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology).
Come 2026, learners will transition to Senior school for a three-year study period that will cover Grade 10, 11 and 12.
At this stage, there will be three core learning areas that will determine learners' career paths.
These are Arts and Sports Science, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The first core learning area has two tracks - Arts and Sports Science.
Under Arts, leaners will study Music and Dance, Theatre and Film and Fine Arts.
Under Sports Science, there is Sports and Recreation and Physical Education.
The first core learning area will accommodate only 15 per cent of all the learners nationwide.
The second core learning area (Social Science) will accommodate 25 per cent of all learners.
It has two tracks - Languages and Literature and Humanities & Business Studies.
Subjects under Languages and Literature are Literature in English, Indigenous Languages, Kiswahili/Kenya Sign Language, Fasihi ya Kiswahili, Arabic, French, Germany and Mandarin/Chinese.
Humanities & Business Studies include Christian Religious Education; Islamic Religious Education; Hindu Religious Education; History and Citizenship; Geography and Business studies.
The third core learning area (STEM) will accommodate 60 per cent of all learners and has three tracks -Pure Science, Applied Science and Technical studies.
Under Pure Science, learners will study Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and general Science.
Applied Science has Agriculture, Computer Science and Home Science.
Technical Studies has Aviation; Building and Construction, Electricity, Metal Work; Power Mechanics and Wood Work.
The latest communication from the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development indicates that Media Technology and Marine and Fisheries Technologies will also be part of the technical areas of studies that will be developed later.
The breakdown is the latest following a review by a technical working group appointed by the President to address concerns raised by parents and other emerging issues.
Regarding the placement of learners to Senior schools upon completion of Junior school in Grade 9, the Ministry of education said students that will undertake STEM subjects will all be absorbed in the former national schools.
Extra County schools will offer Creative Arts and Sports while Humanities will be offered across all county and subcounty schools.
