KNEC Establishes Assessment Centre to Train Teachers on CBE Assessment

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KNEC Establishes Assessment Centre to Train Teachers on CBE Assessment.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has established an Assessment Resource Centre to enhance the capacity of educators and other stakeholders in assessment practices under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) framework.

The centre will be operational before the administration of the first Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) for the pioneer class of the competency-based curriculum. The centre will also serve educators from the East African region.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya National Examinations Council, Dr David Njeng’ere, the centre’s mandate is “to equip educators, examiners, researchers and policymakers with skills in assessment, psychometrics, competency-based education and research”. KNEC noted that the centre will promote excellence and innovation in educational evaluation while ensuring alignment with modern pedagogy and policy frameworks.

The Principal Secretary for Basic Education in the Ministry of Education, Professor Julius Bitok will officially launch the centre on Friday.

KNEC has announced that the centre will offer courses on key areas of assessment including design, administration, marking and evaluation. The training will be open to all teachers unlike previous practice where training was limited to selected examiners. Depending on the course and level, training will be either online or in-person.

Participants will be trained on school-based assessments which have received varied responses since their introduction under CBE. Specific areas of training will include competency-based assessment psychometrics, data analysis, item writing, test development, standardisation and quality assurance in marking.

KNEC has outlined the following courses and structure:

• Competency-Based Assessment Course: A 5-day programme on design, implementation and evaluation of competency-based assessments.
• Performance-Based Assessment Training: Training on use of rubrics, observation checklists and learner portfolios for formative evaluation.
• Item Writing and Assessment Design: 10-day interactive online course on test item development aligned to both competency-based and traditional models. Training components will include lectures, case studies, peer collaboration and practical exercises.* Marking and Standardisation Training: 5-day intensive training for teachers, examiners and assessment officers. It will cover grading techniques to ensure fairness, reliability and consistency in marking. Participants will do practical exercises and are required to bring sample scripts for practice.

KNEC noted that the training will build foundational knowledge and technical skills among educators who will be implementing assessment strategies in the competency-based curriculum as part of the ongoing education reforms.

KNEC Establishes Assessment Centre to Train Teachers on CBE Assessment.