The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has launched online training for Senior School and vocational teachers to equip them with skills to develop examination questions under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.
The training, which began on Monday, October 12, will run until October 30, 2026, and focuses on item writing for Competency-Based Assessment.
The programme is part of KNEC’s efforts to strengthen teachers’ capacity to develop quality assessment items and improve the evaluation of learners’ competencies while maintaining national examination and assessment standards.
KNEC chief executive officer David Njengere said the training was intended to enhance the capacity of teachers and teacher educators in classroom and national assessment.
The application window closed on September 30, with the programme targeting teachers currently teaching the subjects or learning areas for which they sought training at Senior School or vocational level under the stage-based curriculum.
Applicants were required to have relevant academic and professional qualifications, at least one year of teaching experience and registration with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
They also needed to demonstrate integrity, an unblemished professional record, understand the relevant curriculum designs and obtain formal recommendations from the heads of their institutions.
Teachers who had previously undergone KNEC training in item writing were not eligible to apply.
Those who successfully complete the training will receive certification and may be engaged by KNEC in assessment-related activities when the need arises.
The programme comes as Kenya continues implementing CBE, which places emphasis on assessing learners’ ability to apply knowledge and demonstrate practical skills rather than relying solely on recall of information.
Developing quality assessment items is central to the transition, as examination questions must measure the competencies outlined in curriculum designs and provide a reliable basis for evaluating learner achievement.
KNEC is mandated to set and maintain national examination and assessment standards at school, post-school and teacher education levels.
The training comes as the council prepares to oversee the 2026 national examination and assessment season, which is expected to involve about 3.6 million candidates across various levels.
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations reached a historic 1.04 million candidates, crossing the one-million mark for the first time.
KNEC will also administer the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for Grade 6 learners and the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) for Grade 9 learners, while overseeing school-based assessments for Grade 10.
Close to 1.13 million Grade 10 students are expected to transition to Grade 11 come January 2027.
This inaugural CBE senior school cohort will remain tracked within the specific academic pathways they started during Grade 10 as they push toward the final Kenya Certificate of Basic Education (KCBE) in Grade 12.
Grade 11 textbook distribution exercise officially started on October 6 and will end on December 23, with pauses during the national examinations, scheduled to start on October 23.
The training is therefore part of broader efforts to build assessment capacity as the education system expands competency-based evaluation across successive levels of learning.
