New format as KCSE results come out

By Sam Otieno

The 304,829 candidates who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) last year get their results on Tuesday.

This time, however, there will be no school ranking system.

Knec officials have confirmed that the 2008 results format will take a complete departure from the previous years because there will be no school ranking.

In the past, it was difficult for head teachers to explain why their schools dropped in positions, sometimes despite the institutions improving in the overall mean score.

The Kenya National Examinations Council is on record saying the school ranking system is a recipe for unhealthy competition.

The lot of candidates are the first beneficiaries of the free tuition fee for secondary students. They, however, suffered delayed opening of schools due to post-election violence.

Most affected schools were in Rift Valley and Nyanza provinces, which experienced widespread violence with some schools being burnt.

Some students were relocated.

The year was also characterised by strikes ahead of the examinations between May and July.

As Education Minister Sam Ongeri releases the results, many will be interested in the impact of post-election violence and the strikes on the overall performance.

Tricks for better ranks

Last year, Mangu High School led, followed by Starehe Boys Centre. Starehe Girls entered her pioneer batch for KCSE examinations last year and many will be watching the new girls’ school’s performance.

The school ranking system has been criticised as a key reason for unethical competition among schools.

The new system focuses on individual students’ performance rather than schools.

Cheating and compelling students to repeat classes or KCSE exams have in the past been used by teachers to secure better ranking position at national level.

Parents and teachers have previously conspired to help students cheat in examinations so that their schools can be ranked top.

In 2007, about 276,224 candidates sat for the form four national examination administered by Knec.

In 2006, 243,453 candidates were examined.