North Rift toasts to good results as counties shine

By Titus Too and Michael Ollinga

Eldoret, Kenya: North Rift continued with its winning ways in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination, with five counties from the region featuring on the top 10 list.

The region also proved its academic might by producing the best candidate nationally.

Counties from the region that clinched top slots in the 2012 KCPE exam repeated the fete by being among the highest ranked in 2013.

Elgeyo/Marakwet took position   two, same as last year, with a mean score of 271 marks after Kirinyaga County that scored 274 marks.

Nandi County, which was ranked third nationally last year,  maintained the position, this time round tying with Makueni County with a mean score of 267.

Uasin Gishu County came in fifth tying with Busia County with a mean score of 266, as Baringo was placed seventh with 265 points. 

West Pokot completed the top 10 list with 262 points, enabling the North Rift take the lion’s share among the best performers nationally.

Announcing the results, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi commended West Pokot County for posting impressive results despite myriad challenges the region has to grapple with.

Although the counties maintained their good performance, there was a slight drop in their mean scores compared to last year. Elgeyo/Marakwet had a mean score of 272 while Nandi had 271 in the 2012 KCPE exam.

Among the top five, only Kirinyaga County improved by one mark this year by scoring 274.

Sterling performance

It was pomp and pageantry among residents when Prof Kaimenyi announced the 2013 KCPE exam results indicating that North Rift counties had posted a sterling performance. Nandi County produced the best candidate countrywide in last year’s exam – Kimutai Brian of Stewards Light School – who scored 444 marks out of a possible 500.

Nandi also had two candidates among the top 10 male performers nationally as well as two schools among the top five best performing public institutions in the country.

The schools are St Mathew’s Septonok with 392 points, ranked at position two nationally, and All Saints Kebulonik, which scored 374 points. Kechire Primary School in Nandi was also ranked ninth in the Most Improved Schools category.