Last 8-4-4 Form Four exam in 2025, says institute

By WINNIE ATIENO
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The last Form Four class to sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination will be in 2025, according to the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development timelines.

KICD Director Julius Jwan told the Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) Conference in Mombasa Wednesday that, going by the current cycle, the 8-4-4 system will be phased out in the next seven years.

Dr Jwan also assured the school heads that teachers will be trained in the Early Years Education — Pre-Primary 1 and 2 and Grades 1-3 — days to the new curriculum rollout to ensure the ideas remain fresh in their minds.

CURRICULUM

He said the curriculum is not being hurried but implemented in phases.

“When we roll out the curriculum, we are not going to do training for people who teach in primary up to Form Four; we start with the level that we are implementing first, that is the pre- and lower primary,” explained Dr Jwan.

The next stage will be continuous professional development programmes done by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) from next month.

“It is not hurried,” said Dr Jwan. “In 2019 we will move to the next level, that is Standard Four and Five. Very gradual. Come 2020, we roll out Standard Six.

“By the time we will be finishing the current system, we shall have taken about seven years. Is that really a hurried process? This is done very professionally.”

MATERIALS

He said the curriculum support materials being produced by private publishers are of very high quality.

“We have evaluated them,” said Dr Jwan. “The government is putting money in improving infrastructure in our schools.

“We must support it, given that it has taken over 14 years to review the curriculum yet international standards require that it should be reviewed after every five years.”

He added: “Our curriculum was last reformed in 1985. It was last reviewed in 2003.”

Dr Jwan said that, for the past three years, KICD has been working with experts and consulting stakeholders in the private and public sectors. He added that this is the first time the curriculum has been developed by Kenyans.