Number of As in KCSE drop sharply in shock results

Joyce Chepngeno Bore (in black top) is congratulated by Moi Tea girl’s secondary school principal Mary Koske and family members. Bore scored an A –plain of 81 points.

Parents and candidates were Thursday reeling in shock as Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i released results of the most guarded examination in Kenya’s history.

Dr Matiang’i announced that only 141 candidates of the 574,125 who sat this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) scored the coveted grade A compared to 2,685 last year. Although this was not unexpected going by Matiang’i and his officials’ tough measures to curb exam cheating, it was a bolt out of the blue due to the drastic drop in performance.

Some traditional academic giants were also in for a rude shock after they tumbled after posting few or no grade As at all.

And girls turned the tables on  boys after they snatched 16 of the top 20 positions nationally.

Overall, only 88,929 candidates who sat the KCSE exam attained the university entry grade of C+ and above, according to the results which earned the Government instant praise from various quarters for stamping out cheating.

Last year, 169,492 scored C+ and above. Matiang’i announced that all the candidates who attained grade C+ and above will get places in public universities next year.

It was, however, not clear which candidates will be admitted to private universities after public institutions admit all the candidates who have posted the minimum entry grade of C+.

But what caught many by surprise is the manner in which the top schools performed.

Alliance Girls High impressed after it posted the highest number of As; 25.

The school, which posted the same number of As in 2015, earned the minister’s accolades for consistency.

SPECIAL MENTION

Kenya High also got a special mention after posting the second highest number of As with 21 candidates attaining grade A. The school had 20 As in last year’s examinations.

Releasing the examinations results yesterday, Matiang’i singled out the two schools, saying they remained consistent in their mean scores.

Although the CS termed the results as “credible and honest”, they however came as a shocker to some of the top performing schools that have over the years posted some of the best KCSE results.

Alliance Boys, which posted second best results nationally last year with some 207 students scoring As, managed only 14 As this year.

Moi High School Kabarak, which was ranked second nationally during the 2015 examinations with some 202 students scoring As, got only two this year.

Other top schools such as Mang’u and Maranda managed three and two As respectively.

Matiang’i announced that this year has recorded a major reduction in the number of grade As scored by candidates.

He also announced that only 4,645 candidates scored grade A–, 10,975 attained B+ while 17,216 scored B.

And a total of 55,952 candidates scored grade B– and C+.

Cumulatively, only 88,929 candidates attained the university entry grade of C+ and above compared to 169,492 who scored similar grades last year.

“This means that we will be able to absorb all the candidates in universities because we have that capacity,” said Matiang’i.

The results were, however, a significant drop from the previous year.

Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) Chairperson George Magoha painted a picture of a poor candidature that could not post the high number of quality grades witnessed before.

“Some of the candidates were blank. They did not have something to write. We must now accept the results and work with them,” said Prof Magoha.

Data released yesterday showed that only five subjects recorded significant improvement in performance, compared to 13 last year.

Art & Design (442), Computer Studies (451), Drawing & Design (449), Woodwork (444), and Kenyan Sign Language (504) were the most improved subjects.

Matiang’i announced that 20 subjects recorded a decline in performance compared to 10 in the year 2015.

It also emerged that female candidates performed better than male candidates in eight out of the 30 subjects.

The girls did well in English, Kiswahili, Mathematics Alternative B, Physics, CRE, Home Science, Art and Design and Electricity.

Matiang’i said male candidates performed better than female candidates in 20 out of the 30 subjects offered.

Matiang’i defended the credibility of the results. “There was no monkey business this time. The results are clean, clear and a true reflection of where we are as a country and where we want to go,” said Matiang’i.

The CS attributed the clean results to firm supervision during the administration of the tests and strict monitoring of the examinations marking.

He said no single case of examination irregularities was reported as a result and noted that all the candidates will get their examination results.

“This is confirmation that various security measures put in place during the administration and management of the 2016 KCSE examination helped to nip in the bud any forms of cheating,” he said.

Last year, some 5,101 candidates results were cancelled. He said that some cases of examination malpractices were detected and dealt with before they could happen.

Matiang’i, however, said that ‘a few candidates’ will have their results withheld as Knec investigates the reasons as to why there were gaps in some of their examination papers, including failure to sit the minimum subjects or combinations as required.

But even as the examinations were released, a stern warning was sounded to all the teachers whose schools post weak grades.

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said that the results will guide critical decisions by the commission.

“The commission will analyse the results, and make certain inevitable decisions on the basis of individual schools’ scores,” she said.

Ms Macharia said the decisions include promotions and deployments in the teaching service.

“Those who in the past thrived by adulterating our school system must also be ready to suffer the consequences now and in future,” she said.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Wilson Sossion praised the Ministry of Education and Knec for eliminating exam cheating and delivering of credible results.

“We appreciate the elimination of cheating but the ministry must also give guidance on transition of these students. We have a huge percentage of Form Four leavers who may not meet the required C+ to gain admission to university. Have we expanded the mid-level colleges to accommodate these numbers?”

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association acting chairman Indimuli Kahi also welcomed the results.

“We are happy to be associated with the administration of the exams and support the measures put in place by the Ministry of Education to deliver credible results. We also congratulate the ministry and Knec for working round the clock to ensure the results were released as early,” he said.

Matiang’i ordered Knec to send analysed results to TSC within 30 days.

Magoha warned teachers who aid exam cheating. “There will be no sliding back and the work ahead is maintaining the momentum,” he said.

Matiang’i said 2017 will be a year of transformation, saying the examination reforms will also be scaled up.

“We will engage higher gear of accountability and improved service delivery,” he said.

Matiangi also announced that stating next year, candidates will no longer use index numbers.

“We have been instructed to ensure each candidate is given a personal identification number that will be used to track children throughout the education system,” he said.

Schools heads have once again been warned against raising fees.

Matiang’i said he will personally visit schools to ensure the guidelines are implemented.