East Africa’s Educational Revolution: From “No Ranking” in Kenya to PISA in Rwanda

While the Western world retreats behind visa walls, East Africa is sprinting forward with ambitious, homegrown educational reforms. December 2025 has been a historic month for the region, marked by the release of Kenya’s first-ever Grade 10 placements under the new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and Rwanda’s bold entry into the global arena of standardized testing via PISA. These developments signal a maturing of African education systems, moving from basic access to complex quality assurance and specialized pathways.

Kenya: The Grade 10 Transition Crisis and the “No Ranking” Era

In Kenya, the transition from the 8-4-4 system to the CBC reached a critical milestone this month with the release of the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) results for over 1.13 million learners.

The End of the Mean Score 

The most culturally significant shift was the government’s refusal to rank schools or students. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba released the results without the traditional fanfare of “top 100” lists. Instead, learners were placed into four performance bands: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Approaching Expectations, and Below Expectations. This move aims to dismantle the hyper-competitive “mean score” culture that has plagued Kenyan education for decades, redirecting focus to actual skill acquisition.

The Placement Outcry 

However, the implementation has faced severe headwinds. The automated placement system for Senior School (Grade 10), released on Friday, December 19, 2025, triggered immediate public outcry. Parents reported chaotic outcomes: students with high scores in STEM subjects were placed in Arts pathways; children living in Nairobi were assigned to “day schools” hundreds of kilometers away in Meru or rural counties. “The system seemed to care more about filling slots than about distance or safety,” complained one parent, echoing the frustrations of thousands who found the automated selection impractical.

The Government’s Response 

Facing a PR crisis, the Ministry of Education capitulated on Sunday, December 21, 2025. Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced the reopening of the placement portal for a seven-day review window starting December 23. This allows parents to appeal the automated decisions, particularly correcting gender errors and illogical geographic placements.

The Three Pathways 

Despite the logistical chaos, the structural reform is profound. Grade 10 students are now funneled into three distinct pathways:

1. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics): 59.09% of learners demonstrated potential here.

2. Social Sciences: 46.52% qualified.

3. Arts and Sports Science: 48.73% showed potential. This specialization is designed to end the “one size fits all” secondary education and align skills with labor market needs.

Rwanda: Benchmarking Against the World

While Kenya grapples with internal placement, Rwanda is looking outward. In December 2025, the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) and the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA) officially launched Rwanda’s participation in the PISA 2025 Main Survey.

The PISA Gamble 

Participation in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a high-stakes gamble for any developing nation. It exposes the education system to direct comparison with economic giants like Finland and Singapore. However, Minister Joseph Nsengimana framed it as a necessary step for “benchmarking our students’ performance against 91 countries.” The assessment, scheduled for April-June 2025, will test 7,455 students from 213 schools not on rote memorization, but on their ability to apply knowledge in reading, math, and science.

Domestic Reforms: Pathways and Recruiting 

Domestically, Rwanda is also streamlining its Upper Secondary (A-Level) system. The Cabinet recently approved a reform replacing complex subject combinations with three clear pathways: Mathematics & Sciences, Arts & Humanities, and Languages. This mirrors the Kenyan model, suggesting a regional convergence towards specialized secondary education.

Furthermore, the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) is aggressively recruiting. December 2025 saw job postings for hundreds of positions, including school leaders and disaster management officers, with deadlines set for late December. The recent release of national exam results showed a pass rate of 75.64% for Primary Leaving Exams and 64.35% for O-Levels, with a notable trend of girls outperforming boys at the secondary level.

Conclusion: A Region in Transition

East Africa is currently the most dynamic laboratory for educational reform on the continent. Kenya’s messy but ambitious implementation of the CBC and Rwanda’s disciplined march towards global standards demonstrate a region that is no longer content with the status quo. These reforms are painful, chaotic, and expensive, but they represent a genuine attempt to build education systems that work for the future of Africa, rather than the ghosts of its colonial past.