Kakamega boy tops KCPE as academies shine in Nairobi

Private academies appeared to have beaten public schools in Nairobi in the 2015 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam that saw Kakamega County produce the top candidate nationally.

The bestscore reported was from Master Aggrey Wabuko of St Joseph’s Primary School in Kakamega County who scored 449 marks.

Felistas Onduso of Gilgil Hills in Nakuru was reported as the top girl nationally with 445 marks.

Naomi Gakoi of Happy Land School in Buruburu had 442 marks followed by Moi Education Centre’s Birhange Tresor and Daniel Ngira who scored 441 marks, according to a survey by The Standard.

Other top performers in Nairobi were Bidii Primary School’s Mutinda Janice Mwingi who had 441 marks, Keith Ang’ana of New Light School (440 marks), Ashley Wangari of Ruaraka Academy (440 marks).

While releasing the results yesterday, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i declared war on examination irregularities and vowed to restore the credibility of national examinations.

Matiang'i said children can never be condemned when leaders fail in their responsibility of ensuring national tests are credible.

"You (Knec) have 12 months to prepare for examinations and we cannot wait to give all manner of reasons. I have already visited the examination council offices and I shall visit again as many times as I can," said Matiang'i.

Further, Dr Matiang'i revealed that President Uhuru Kenyatta will next month launch the curriculum review process and asked Kenyans to contribute effectively on how the country's education should be administered.

"We shall kick off the comprehensive curriculum reforms and issues of testing and systems of measuring performance shall be discussed," said Dr Matiang'i.

The CS also faulted teachers for the seven-point drop in public schools mean score.

He, however, said that the general performance in this year's examination was at par with the previous year's even after cases of cheating went up.

According to a tally by The Standard, St Joseph's Primary School in Kakamega produced the top candidate in this year's KCPE.

Aggrey Wabuko topped the charts after scoring 449 out of a possible 500. Collins Kipkoech of Chelsa Academy in Bomet and Lennox Kimathi of Kathingiri Primary school in Meru came second with 446 marks.

Felista Onduso of Gilgil Hills in Nakuru County emerged third and the best girl nationally followed by Rhodah Engefu of St Kevin, Mombasa.

Engefu was position four nationally. At least 100 candidates scored 420 marks and above, according to the tally by The Standard.

There was no official ranking by the ministry for the second year.

Overall, the results released yesterday showed some 455,221 candidates scored the average pass mark of 250 and above, compared to 437,080 last year.

This means 472,568 candidates posted grades below the average pass mark. Matiang'i said this year's performance was not different from the previous year.

"Candidates overall performance in the 2015 KCPE examination based on their standardised scores remained relatively the same when compared to that of 2014," said Matiang'i.

He said a total of 7,560 candidates scored between 401-500 marks, representing 0.81 per cent of the total candidature. Some 201,986 candidates scored between 301-400 marks, representing about 21.77 per cent.

Seven point-drop

The bulk of this year's candidates – 499,568 – posted marks ranging between 201-300, representing some 53.84 per cent of the total number of candidates. A total of 218,675 candidates scored 200 marks and below, with 3,061 of them posting less than 100 marks.

Matiang'i said the performance of public schools dropped with seven points compared to last year.

The mean score of candidates in public schools dropped from 187.58 last year to this year's 180.87.

But the mean score of candidates in private schools, however, improved from 229.94 last year to 230.14 this year.

"This decrease in mean score could be attributed to lack of teaching and learning during the five-week teachers' strike that preceded the administration of the 2015 examination," he said.

The CS announced that the Form One selection process will be launched on January 21, and said a meeting has been arranged with private school representatives on January 5.

The results also indicated improved performance among candidates in North Eastern, with Wajir, Mandera, and Garissa counties recording improved mean scores.

Matiang'i, however, decried the rising cases of examination irregularities, which he said have marginally increased, compared to previous three years.

Of the 927,789 candidates who sat the test, 2,709 were involved in examination irregularities. "These candidates were found in 111 out of the 25, 127 examination centres, representing 0.44 per cent of the total number of examination centres," said Matiang'i.

Knec Chief Executive Officer Joseph Kivilu said 157 persons have been arrested and charged in court for various offences committed during the examinations.

He said these include head teachers, deputy head teachers, teachers, university students, candidates, police officers and parents.

"I wish to assure the Kenyan public that as an institution, we are in the process of auditing all the activities that were undertaken during the various processes of the 2015 national examinations in a bid to establish what went wrong and put in place interventions that will ensure that the same challenges are not experienced in the year 2016," said Kivilu.

On subject performance, Religious Education recorded the highest improvement at 70.20 per cent.

English composition had the lowest score of 41.38 per cent compared to last year's 41.47. English language and Mathematics also posted improved results. - The Standard, 31st December, 2015.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000186612/kakamega-boy-tops-kcpe-as-academies-shine-in-nairobi

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