BONYO'S BONE: Down with the fake rankings on Kenya's education transition

On Friday, 11th December, the Kenya national examinations council—KNEC—released the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment, the KJSEA results.

These were the inaugural results of their kind, assessing over one million learners across nine subject areas.

Expectedly, many parents and learners were thrown into confusion. Teachers and school heads were also largely in the dark on how to interpret the results. And perhaps understandably so—the results came in a new format. Education experts describe them as both qualitative and quantitative.

This was not the familiar territory of simple grades and marks that defined the 8-4-4 system.

Instead, the KJSEA results describe the individual abilities of each learner and begin to map out the pathways they will follow once placement is done.

In doing so, the assessment effectively rendered school ranking obsolete and fully embraced the philosophy of Competency-Based Education (CBE) a system the government has consistently promoted as globally accepted and future-facing.

But barely days after the release of these results, some schools have shamelessly pivoted back to the bad old habits. Ranking.

Still suffering from the hangover of the 8-4-4 era, these institutions rushed to release their own assessments, complete with mean scores.

What a tragedy for institutions that proudly call themselves centres of excellence.

As if that was not enough, they went further buying acres of prime print and broadcast media space to gloat over what they perceive as institutional “success”.

Let me remind these schools, and their owners, of a simple truth.

Competency-based education unlike the 8-4-4 system is not a money-making scheme.

You cannot invent rankings where none exist and manufacture mean scores out of feelings and perceptions.

School administrators still choking on the ranking syndrome: smell the coffee

CBE is about nurturing the individual potential of every learner. It is not a team sport. There is no aggregate score for marketing purposes.

Each subject is assessed independently. Learner achievement is reported through performance levels not the fake totals being paraded.

You cannot fantasize KJSEA results the way you did with KCPE.

The cheese has moved, from memorisation and ranking to skills, growth, and capability.

This is no longer about a single, high-stakes examination. It is about specialization driven by aptitude, talent, and career aspirations.

Competency-based education is not a business model neither is it a branding opportunity

The ministry of education, KNEC, and quality assurance bodies must now assert regulatory clarity and enforcement to prevent distortion of assessment outcomes.

This transition demands institutional discipline, professional retooling, and fidelity to policy.

So, down with the fake rankings.

That is my bone tonight.