The public ranking of private schools using KJSEA results is a clear breach of both the spirit and the letter of Competency Based Education (CBE). While assessment remains an integral component of the CBE framework, its purpose is fundamentally different from the traditional examination-centred culture that ranking promotes. By turning KJSEA outcomes into league tables, private schools risk undermining the very philosophy that CBE seeks to entrench in Kenya’s education system.
At the heart of CBE is the recognition that learners are unique and develop competencies at different paces. The Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) is designed to establish the level of competency acquisition by individual learners across learning areas, not to compare schools or label learners as “best” or “weak.” Ranking schools based on these results shifts attention away from individual learner progress and mastery of competencies to institutional competition and numerical superiority. This directly contradicts the learner-centred approach that CBE advocates.
Moreover, CBE assessment is formative, continuous and diagnostic. It is meant to inform instruction, support remediation, and guide learners, teachers and parents on areas that require strengthening. When schools publicise rankings, assessment becomes summative and punitive in practice, even if not in policy. Teachers feel pressured to “teach to the assessment,” narrow the curriculum, or prioritise examinable competencies at the expense of holistic development. This recreates the excesses of the 8-4-4 system that CBE was meant to cure.
The practice also violates the values underpinning CBE, such as integrity, social justice, responsibility and respect. Public ranking fuels unhealthy competition, elitism and exclusion. Schools serving learners with diverse abilities, special needs or from less advantaged backgrounds are unfairly portrayed as inferior, despite possibly making significant gains in learner growth. This is socially unjust and negates the inclusive ethos of CBE, which emphasises equity and accommodation of learner differences through tools such as the Individualised Education Programme (IEP).
From a professional standpoint, ranking compromises ethical assessment practices. KJSEA results are confidential learner records intended for pedagogical decision-making and placement, not marketing tools. Using them to advertise school superiority amounts to a misuse of assessment data. It also places undue pressure on learners at a formative stage, sending the wrong message that their worth is defined by comparative performance rather than demonstrated competencies and personal growth.
Additionally, ranking distorts parental understanding of CBE. Parents are led to believe that highly ranked schools are “better.” In reality, CBE quality should be judged by how well a school nurtures competencies, values, creativity, critical thinking, and lifelong learning skills. This misconception pushes schools to chase numbers rather than invest in quality teaching, differentiated instruction, and authentic learning experiences.
If private schools are truly committed to CBE, they must abandon the culture of ranking and instead focus on qualitative reporting. Schools should communicate learner progress through competency profiles, narrative feedback, portfolios and clear descriptions of strengths and areas for improvement. At the institutional level, schools can engage in reflective self-evaluation and peer learning rather than public comparison.
In conclusion, ranking private schools based on KJSEA results is not only regressive but also a betrayal of the CBE vision. It reintroduces exam-centric competition, undermines equity, distorts assessment, and erodes the values that CBE stands for. Education stakeholders, especially school owners and heads of institutions, must exercise restraint and professional integrity by aligning their practices with the principles of CBE. Only then can assessment truly serve learning rather than publicity.
By Ashford Kimani
Ashford teaches English and Literature in Gatundu North Sub-county and serves as Dean of Studies.
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