Kilifi School heads meet in Kisumu to strategise on exams

The principals during a retreat in Kisumu where they are reviewing the county’s 2014 KCSE results. [PHOTO: COLLINSODUOR/STANDARD]

KILIFI COUNTY: More than 100 secondary school principals from the county are on a four-day retreat in Kisumu to analyse the region’s 2014 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results.

Gathered at Royal City Hotel in Milimani, the school heads are not only scrutinising results and sharing ideas, they are also strategising on improving the county’s performance.

Schools in Kilifi, including the newly upgraded national schools, performed dismally in the examinations causing anxiety among leaders and education stakeholders.

In his opening remarks yesterday, Kilifi Secondary School Heads Association Chairman Boniface Karisa said the teachers have an obligation to work out ways to help learners do better.

“The county secondary school heads association came up with this annual retreat programme for us to meet and analyse the results and share ideas so that our schools can perform better,” Mr Karisa said.

On his part, Education County Director Dickson Keis said the retreat will help school heads examine their weaknesses and propose remedies.

SHARE IDEAS

The director said it is unfortunate that poverty in the county has forced many bright pupils to drop out of school and commended Governor Amason Kingi for giving bursaries sponsoring locals to secondary schools and universities.

“I really welcome the idea by the county administration to provide money for bright, needy children joining national schools,” he said.

According to the retreat programme, principals whose schools have been posting good results in KCSE had been slotted to share their experiences with “weaker” schools.

Ribe Boys School Principal, Raphael Diwani, whose school emerged top in the county’s public secondary school category, is among those who addressed the conference.

The principal said his school, a national school, posted a mean score of 7.11875 up from 2013’s 7.064.

Mr Diwani told the forum that completing the syllabus in time and allowing candidates to practice with past examination papers enabled them to perform well.

Lutsangani Mixed Secondary School Principal Simon Beja was elected principal of the year.