The Ministry of Education is set to change the grading structure of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations to reflect the dominant aptitudes and interests of learners.

The Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr Belio Kipsang on Monday said the new grading system will take into account the literacy and numeracy abilities of learners.

According to the PS, the system will allow the overall grading of learners to include the best five subjects, instead of grading them across subject clusters as has been the case since the inception of the 8-4-4 education system.

Kipsang made the remarks in Mombasa during a briefing on the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the presidential working party on education reforms (PWPER) to the members of the Departmental Committee on Education of the National Assembly.

Dr Kipsang represented Education Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu in apprising the committee of the status and proposals that will give effect to PWPER’s recommendations.

The working party’s report made recommendations on assessment and included a review of the KCSE grading system of KCSE to international standards.

PS Kipsang said the grading in any national education system is for certification and not placement of students in higher education.

He said the integration of certification and placement in the KCSE grading structure has disadvantaged many students with different orientations in abilities and interests.

According to him, literacy and numeracy abilities will be taken into account in grading moving forward

Students of the remaining cohort of the 8-4-4 will however be graded according to their performance in five subjects in addition to their grades in Mathematics and either English or Kiswahili, Kipsang said.

“A student with the ability and interest in medicine or engineering need not be prevented from qualifying for the courses just because a subject that was used to grade him pulled down his overall Mean Grade,” the PS added.