Primary School: Standard 1 to Standard 8

Students spend 8 years in primary school - Standard 1 to Standard 8, the equivalent of Canadian Grade 1 to Grade 8. At the end of Standard 8, they take a national examination - the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education. After taking this exam, 60% of students attend secondary school; the remaining 40% drop out of school (usually for financial reasons).  The Government of Kenya recently introduced free, universal primary education several years ago, which means that primary schools are now flooded with students – the national average class size is 60 students.

 

Secondary School: Form 1 to Form 4

Grades 9 to 12 are called Form 1 to Form 4 in Kenya. After

The following are the courses they take each year:

Grade 9 (Form 1) and Grade 10 (Form 2): English, Kiswahili, History, Geography, Business Studies OR Agriculture, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Math, Christian Religious Education

 

Secondary Exam

In Form 4 - grade 12 - students take a comprehensive examination, the KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education). ALL students are required to write exams for 7 subjects during the month of November each year. The papers are cumulative from Form 1 (Grade 9)... in other words, the 'History' exam will include the history studied all the way from Grade 9 to Grade 12.

 

School Year: Begins in January and ends in November

            Term 1 January - March, holiday for the month of April

            Term 2 May - July, holiday for the month of August

            Term 3 September - November, with holiday for the month of December

 

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