The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) on Monday began online training for teachers who will set examination questions under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.

The course, which focuses on writing items for Competency-Based Assessment, runs from October 12 to October 30, 2026, according to The Star. It targets Senior School and vocational teachers who are currently teaching the subjects or learning areas they applied for.

Building assessment skills

KNEC Chief Executive David Njengere said the training is meant to build the capacity of teachers and teacher educators in classroom and national assessment. The council says the programme will strengthen teachers' ability to write quality assessment items while maintaining national examination standards.

Under CBE, assessments are expected to test whether learners can apply knowledge and demonstrate practical skills, rather than relying mainly on recall. Questions must measure the competencies in the curriculum designs and give a reliable basis for judging what learners have achieved.

Who qualified

Applications closed on September 30 through the KNEC portal, and only shortlisted teachers were contacted. Applicants were required to have:

  • Relevant academic and professional qualifications
  • At least one year of teaching experience
  • Registration with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC)
  • A clean professional record and an understanding of the relevant curriculum designs
  • A formal recommendation from their head of institution

Teachers who had previously been trained by KNEC in item writing were not eligible. Those who complete the course will be certified and may be engaged by KNEC for assessment work when needed.

A busy exam season

The training comes as KNEC prepares for its largest assessment season yet, with about 3.6 million candidates expected across various levels. The number of KCSE candidates has passed one million for the first time, reaching about 1.04 million. National examinations start on October 23.

KNEC will also administer the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for Grade 6 and the Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) for Grade 9, and oversee school-based assessments for Grade 10.

About 1.13 million Grade 10 learners, the first CBE cohort in Senior School, are expected to move to Grade 11 in January 2027. They will continue in the pathways they chose in Grade 10.

KNEC also runs a free, self-paced online portal on competency-based assessment for Senior School teachers, which covers assessment design, blueprints, item writing and test development.

Photo: Stephen wanjau / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0