KARIMI GATIMI: What next after KJSEA?

Karimi Gatimi Learning and Communications Specialist/HANDOUT

The release of the KJSEA results has reached many homes, bringing a familiar mix of relief, anxiety, pride, and, for some, quiet confusion.

Even as we await the KPSEA results, parents and learners are asking the same old questions: How did we do? Where do we stand? What school comes next?

Now is the moment to pause, breathe, and ask a different set of questions. We are no longer in the era of marks, mean grades, and national ranking lists pinned on school notice boards. We stand at the threshold of a new educational philosophy, and whether we like it or not, the old measuring tools no longer fit.

Understanding the New Grading Bands

One of the loudest reactions to the KJSEA results has been confusion over the grading bands: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Approaching Expectations, Below Expectations. These are not soft labels. They are intentional.

Unlike the traditional A–E system, which ranked learners against one another, the new bands evaluate learners based on specific competencies. The question is no longer, Who beat whom? But what can this learner actually do? A learner who is ‘Meeting Expectations’ is neither average nor failing.

They have shown the necessary skills for their level. Someone who is ‘Approaching Expectations’ is making progress and requires targeted support. This system aims to guide learning, not to shame learners or prematurely crown winners. For parents raised on report forms that declared ‘Position 3 out of 54,’ this change can feel unsettling. But education, like the world itself, has moved on.

Why Ranking No Longer Makes Sense

Ranking children has always been more about adult pride than child potential. It creates artificial hierarchies, lifelong labels, and unnecessary pressure. In a world driven by innovation, creativity, and collaboration, ranking learners as if they are runners in a single-lane race makes little sense: today’s world rewards problem-solvers, critical thinkers, creators and collaborators.

The elephant in the room

We are parenting and teaching in the age of Artificial Intelligence, and that reality changes everything. Careers are emerging faster than school syllabuses can be revised. Some of the jobs our children will hold do not yet exist. Others will disappear quietly, without ceremony.

This raises a very uncomfortable discussion for both teachers and parents: education can no longer be about stuffing children with content and testing recall. It must be about helping them learn how to learn, how to ask questions, how to adapt, how to work with technology rather than fear it.

Many adults are also learning about this world in real time. We are figuring out AI tools, digital platforms, remote work, and new ways of thinking. Why then do we expect children to fit into rigid, outdated definitions of success?

Technology Is Not Optional

As learners transition to the next level, exposure to technology should not be treated as a luxury or an extracurricular activity. It is foundational. Technology literacy today is what reading and writing were decades ago. Schools that are still debating whether to integrate digital tools are already behind. Learners must be exposed to coding concepts, digital creativity, AI awareness, online collaboration and responsible digital citizenship.

This is not about turning every child into a programmer but about giving them fluency, confidence and curiosity in a digital world.

A Call to Schools and Teachers

We cannot be chasing grades in a world that has already moved on. For schools and teachers, the conversation must shift decisively from ranking to readiness. The most important question is no longer, What was our mean score? but How prepared are our learners for the next stage of learning and life? Upskilling teachers, continuous professional development, exposure to new pedagogies, technology integration and learner-centered approaches should be at the heart of school leadership. A school’s pride should rest not in mean grades, but in the relevance and responsiveness of its teaching.

A Gentle Reminder to Parents

To parents, this is a moment to trust the process and your child’s journey. Avoid the temptation to compare, panic, or project your own school experiences onto a fundamentally different system. The KJSEA results are a mirror, showing us how much education has changed, and how much we must change with it.

As we await the KPSEA results, let us remember that we are raising children for a future that will demand imagination, adaptability and lifelong learning. Grades may open doors, but competencies will keep them open.

Karimi is a Learning and Communications Specialist

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