School heads on the spot over poor results

From left: SalvationArmy church Embu Division head Simon Mbuthu, Kenya East Territory chief secretary Nahashon Njiru, Embu County Director of Education Beatrice Makau and Runyenjes MP Cecily Mbarire during the church’s education day at Gikuuri Secondary School on July 10, 2016. BY JOSEPH MUCHIRI/STANDARD

EMBU: Primary school heads have been put on the spot over declining performance in national examinations.

County Education Officer Beatrice Makau said stakeholders were concerned over poor results the schools were recording in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examinations over the years.

"The county's mean score has been on a downward trend since 2013 and fell from 246.7 in 2014 to 241.06 last year. This is unacceptable," she said.

"The government has invested heavily in education through the Free Primary Education programme and staffing has also improved greatly," she added.

Speaking during the Salvation Army Church Education Day at Gikuuri Secondary, Ms Makau also said school heads must work to reverse the trend.

"You have no excuse for the poor performance because all schools have adequate numbers of trained teachers and are also getting government funding. I wonder where the problem is," she said.

However, Makau said most secondary schools were doing well. Even those with serious teacher shortages had improved their performance over the years.

She singled out Gategi Secondary School, which she said has improved its mean score and had also been excellent in extra-curricular activities. "Apparently, Gategi Primary has also been doing well," Makau added.

"We've noted that schools that are performing well in extra-curricular activities also excelled in national examinations. We urge others to follow suit. We want to offer education that builds the learner physically, mentally and spiritually," Makua said.