NEWEST GUIDELINES ON KCSE 2019 KNEC PROJECTS

KCSE 2019 KNEC PROJECTS
KENYAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS HAVE UP TO 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2019 TO SUBMIT ALL KCSE PROJECTS AND REPORTS

HERE ARE THE GUIDELINES

MILESTONES
The Kenya National Examinations Council has given new guidelines on packaging and return of this year’s KCSE projects. There were slight changes this year as KNEC decided to partition the assessment of these projects into milestones.
The first milestone was set to last three months. It kicked off in January and end on 31st March this year.
Milestone two started on 15th June and ended in July 2019.

CIRCULAR
A circular released by KNEC’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Mercy G. Karogo outlines the council’s timelines and instructions on how to go about the hard copy project sheets.

According to Dr. Karogo:
1. Principals that represented candidates for KCSE Group IV subjects should return the project materials to the sub-county education offices before 30th September.
2. Packaging- the raw and computer-generated score sheets must be packed in different envelopes.
3. The sub-county directors are expected to supervise and ensure that projects from all schools have been well-packed and collected before the aforementioned deadline.
COLLECTION OF PROJECT MATERIALS
The KNEC OFFICERS who are charged with the responsibility of delivering this year’s KCPE and KCSE examination materials between 7th and 11th October should collect the projects from the sub-county directors’ offices across the whole nation.
PROJECT DOCUMENTS
The project documents expected to have been collected include: student’s project reports, raw mark sheets, computer-generated scores, learner declarations and school report.
CHANGES- NEW ASSESSMENT SHEETS AND EVALUATION GUIDELINES
KNEC has issued new assessment sheets which will be used when evaluating project examinations. This marks a great shift from the previous years’ tradition. These changes shall affect the assessment of Agriculture(443/13), Art and Design (442/3), Woodwork (444/3), Metal Work (445/2), Building and Construction (446/2) and Computer studies (451/2).
INNOVATIONS
KNEC has further introduced two innovations about the assessment of Group IV subjects.
KNEC PORTAL
Schools can now access new assessment sheets from http://www.knec-portal.ac.ke. After evaluation, the students’ scores should be entered into the system at specified timelines.
KNEC further insisted that all projected should be complete before the second term elapses.
Also, student photographs should be captured while undertaking the project to authenticate the marks. Students taking Agriculture should take a photo alongside the school principal and Agriculture teacher in full school uniform.
Group IV Teacher workshops
Nation-wide workshops for teachers of Group IV subjects whose theme was ‘ENHANCING THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF KCSE GROUP IV SUBJECTS PROJECT ASSESSMENT’ revealed the following gaps which led to the introduction of the two milestones:
1. Failure to initiate the project early enough-it was noted that KCSE candidates started projects very late. Some initiated them in June.
2. Students earning undeserved grades by purchasing ready-made projects especially in computer studies.
3. Missing assessment records for projects.
4. Lack of evidence to support project outcomes.
5. Failure to observe project specifications.
6. Communal undertaking of projects instead of individual work.
7. Ballooned scores that do not match project quality.
Project teachers have also raised concerns such as minimal contribution of project marks to the final score, financial constraints and lack of teacher remuneration.