St Christophers teachers, pupils and parents celebrate over good performance

Victor Caleb of St Christopher's School in Nanyuki is congratulated for his 436 score in KCPE exam. [Jacinta Mutura]

There was jubilation at St Christopher Schools in Nanyuki as parents joined teachers to celebrate good performance in the KCPE exam that saw 15 pupils score over 400 marks.

Victor Caleb led in the school with 436 marks, followed by Victor Mwangi with 434 and David Ndebu who scored 431.

Caleb, 16, a seemingly reserved pupil, was the school’s president with his teachers referring him as a disciplined and focused pupil.

According to the school’s Director Bernard Mathu, 15 pupils scored over 400 marks while 54 pupils registered over 350 marks.

The school, which registered 36 boys and 35 girls for the exam, posted a mean grade of 358.

Mr Mathu attributed the success to good cooperation, teamwork and support among the key players.

“We could not make it alone, support from the teachers and parents to ensure that the pupils perform well was overwhelming,” noted Mathu.

When he received the news, Mr Mathu said the teachers, parents and pupils took to the streets of Nanyuki town to celebrate.

“Everyone was excited and surprised. We expected good performance but honestly we did not expect to be this excellent. The pupils have made us proud,” he said.

Mathu noted the pupils were disciplined and ever willing to be taught.

“There was nothing extraordinary about the pupils. It was a normal class, just that they were obedient and hard-working,” he revealed.

Although he attributed the performance to support from teachers and the majority of parents, Mathu noted some parents did not cooperate in realising the performance.

“It is not easy to help children perform especially if some parents are not supportive. Some had to be pushed to pay school fees for their own children,” he said.

The administrator revealed to The Standard that a candidate wrote her examination a day after being discharged from hospital where she has undergone surgery due to appendicitis.

Innocent Nyambura scored 362 marks despite being in and out of hospital. “She used to complain about her stomach and headache and the parents would pick her and rush her to hospital now and then but when the doctors realised that she had appendicitis, she was operated on immediately,” he said.

“We did not want her to do the exam from the hospital, so we pleaded with the doctors to discharge her,” said Mathu.

He added that the girl was admitted to the hospital a week to the examinations and had the surgery done nine days to the material day.

As a way of boosting performance, the school introduced a quarterly magazine Mirror where the pupils’ articles are published in efforts to help them improve their writing skills.

The director hopes the school will produce the best pupil in the country in next year’s examination.

[email protected]