Team to probe why schools failed to record A in KCSE

Butula High School in Busia where ex-students have expressed concern on the school's performance in KCSE examinations. [Ignatius Odanga/Standard]

The County Education Board has constituted a committee of experts to look into why Busia schools performed poorly in national examinations.

The board's chairman, John Shiundu, said it should concern residents that not a single school in the county posted grade A plain in the recently released KCSE examination results.

Speaking at Butula High School on Saturday, Prof Shiundu said the experts will visit the schools and try to understand the causes of the poor performance.

“It is strange that Busia can fail to record an A plain in KCSE. This is very bad. The committee will investigate the causes,” Shiundu said.

Former students of Butula High School expressed concern over the school's declining performance.

Not a single student has posted grade A in Butula for the last four years.

Butula recorded six A- and a mean score of 6.7 points. On Saturday, ex-students met at the institution and appointed David Odaba as the new head of the school's alumni association.

Dr Odaba revealed that the association intends to mobilise resources to aide in the improvement of Butula's learning infrastructure and to reward candidates who perform well in KCSE.

He stated that the myriad financial challenges the school was facing could be behind its poor performance in national examinations.

Facilities needed

The school has a population of 1,200 students.

“The school’s performance in national examinations is not appealing at all. We are going to explore all avenues to ensure that Butula starts to record good performance in KCSE,” said Odaba.

He continued: “The population has increased but the facilities have remained the same. The situation in Butula does not reflect its status as a national school.”

School Principal Daniel Ouma, however, argued that despite the fact that a grade A plain has not been recorded for the last four years, the mean score has been improving.

Mr Ouma said the school was in dire need of improved infrastructure to match the ever rising number of students.

The building that was earmarked for a biology laboratory has been turned into a dormitory.

He said quality grades go hand in hand with infrastructural investments. He remained hopeful that the alumni association will add much value to the smooth running of the institution.

 

Declining performance

“The old boys are concerned that the school used to do very well but now the performance is declining,” said Ouma.

Busia Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi, who is an old boy of Butula, asserted that many schools from outside Busia County used to benchmark in Butula.

He called on ex-students to come out and contribute to the development of the school.

“I have no doubt that with concerted efforts from various stakeholders, the school will begin to record exemplary performance,” said Mr Mulomi.