Girls dominate KCPE in Makueni, Machakos as private school shine

 

Liese Makau after scoring 406 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination 2023 at Full Care Academy in Machakos town on November 23, 2023. [John Muia, Standard]

Girls in Makueni and Machakos counties dominated this year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams whose results were released on Thursday.

Girls, from both public and private schools generally performed better compared to boys.

Unoa Primary School, a public school Wote township in Makueni, produced some of the top pupils in the exams, Victoria Mutuku and Meive Atieno scored 410 and 400 marks respectively.

AIC Malivani, another public school, had its top scorer being a girl, Valery Kokomo who had 417 marks. She was followed by Nzangi Moses with 415, and Wandera Blessings who managed 413 marks.

"We are happy to have posted such results, which are an improvement of last year’s performance. We have nine pupils who have scored 400 marks and above,” Joshua Kimenzu, AIC Malivani School head teacher told the Standard.

Winfred Sila, Unoa's head teacher, attributed the school’s success to a good working relationship between the school and parents.

Private schools continued to outshine the public institutions. Emmanuel Springs Academy and Christopher Kiamba Memorial School in Sultan Hamud produced some of the leading pupils in Makueni.

Emmanuel Springs School had Mathias Kivuva who topped with 418 marks, followed by Vincent Mutua (418), and Musyoka Talia (417). At least 30 pupils from the school posted 400 marks and above.

“We have been doing several mock exams which contributed massively to our success. I want to join Pangani Girls. I hope to become a lawyer in the future,” said Yvonne Mumbua, who scored 414 at Emmanuel Springs.

At the Sultan Hamud-based school, the top pupil was also a girl, Wambua Miriam, who posted 413 marks, Matheke Gift (410) Lisa Dada Wamboi (408), Hillary Mark (405), Stacy Njaka (405), and Mutua James (403).

One of the girls who recorded exemplary performance in the exams, Lisa Dada, said she read several books which improved her performance.

“I don’t watch television. I do artwork during my free time. I read a variety of books and when I need to relax, I go for swimming to keep myself physically fit,” said Lisa who hopes to join Maryhill Girl’s High School.

“I want to pursue a career in medical research,” Lisa said.

In Machakos County, East Park Academy in Joska and Early Bird Schools in Machakos sub-county produced some of the county’s top candidates in the exam, with girls dominating.

At East Park, three candidates tied at top position with 418 marks out of the possible 500. They are Gloria Mutunga, Raphael Maenda, and Patience Waithera. Their dream secondary schools are Pangani Girls, Mang’u High, and Starehe Girls Centre respectively.

The school’s headteacher James Oino said this year’s performance was better as they achieved a mean grade of 392.

“Our success was driven by hard work, discipline, and cooperation between teachers, parents and pupils. We are happy that all our candidates will find placements in good secondary schools,” said Oino.

At Early Bird, Elvis Bosire emerged tops after scoring 407 marks, followed by James Israel and Leon Mutua with 403 and 400 marks respectively.

James hopes to join Mang’u High School and later pursue aviation studies. Leon is eyeing admission to Alliance High School.

“After completing my secondary education, I would wish to pursue medicine, hopefully at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom,” said the 14-year-old Leon.

The school’s head teacher Ambrose Wamalwa said teamwork was the secret of their success.

“In our school, we usually say no one is smarter than all of us. This philosophy has helped us cultivate the culture of teamwork and everybody can see the fruits it has yielded,” said Wamalwa.