Counties ranked, repeating banned

By Augustine Oduor

Moi Educational Centre and Tendercare Academy, both in Nairobi, produced the best boy and girl in 2011 Standard Eight examination results as Kirinyaga topped the 47 Counties.

Kathigiri B Primary School in Meru emerged the best performing public school in Kenya followed by Nyabondo Primary School in Kisumu. It was the first time Counties were being ranked in line with the Constitution.

Kagiri Christine Muthoni of Tendercare Academy in Komarock Estate tied at number one slot nationally with Irungu Martin Waiharo of Moi Educational Centre. Both scored 442 marks in an exam Education minister Prof Sam Ongeri praised as Kenya’s best in last three years.

Martin Waiharu Irungu of Moi Educational Center in Nairobi is the 2011 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination top male candidate tying at 442 with Christine Muthoni of Tender Care Junior Academy, Nairobi. [Photo: BONIFACE OKENDO/Standard]

It will also be remembered as the exam at whose release the Government banned the tendency by school heads to force weak children to repeat classes, and also the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam that saw girls close in the gap between them and the boys to just four percentage points.

Swimming in the merriment of leading the country, Irungu and Kagiri talked about their ambitions of becoming a surgeon and a lawyer, respectively.

In a new bid to rein in on cheating, schools will now be closed during the examination period. Ongeri said collusion has facilitated cheating in the past, and now only candidates, teachers, supervisors and security officials will be allowed in the school during exams.

To this end schools would remain closed from October 19 to allow the candidates sit examinations without disturbance.

The early closure in third term is also being seen as a strategy by the Ministry to ensure early break off before elections, widely expected to be in December.

Kagiri, whose father is a soldier, said she would like to join Alliance Girls School in pursuit of her dream to be a surgeon.

"I am so excited. I don’t even know what to say. God has been so good to me and all my thanks are directed to Him," said the candidate who also donned the cap of the best girl nationally.

Her father Major Samuel Kagiri, an Aviator based at Defence Headquarters and her mother Mrs Pauline Kagiri, were overjoyed and said they will reward their girl.

Irungu, who is the first-born, said he always wanted to be a lawyer to champion the rights of the oppressed, and to seek justice for the poor and the marginalised.

Celebrations rocked his school as parents, teachers and pupils danced to his triumph, led by the principal Mr Philemon Chebii. The school head described him as a hardworking boy and teachers revealed they expected him to do well.

Longer school terms

Irungu’s father Mr Peter Waiharo is an engineer, while his mother Sarah Gikonyo is a nutritionist.

"We knew he would perform well and his success is not a surprise to us. He had been working very had and his performance right from earlier classes had shown that," said Chebii.

Ongeri said these were the best grades in three years as the top candidate scored 434 marks in 2009, while the best mark in 2010 was 438 out of the possible 500.

Ongeri said starting next year, the first and second term will be made longer for up to 16 and 15 weeks and third term shall only have eight weeks. According to the minister there are a lot of interruptions and collusions at examinations when schools are on.

The minister said Education Secretary George Godia would issue a circular to this effect in January.

Some 776,241 candidates sat this year’s examinations compared to 746,080 last year.

Karanja Herbert Crispin followed Irungu and Kagiri with 441 marks as Kuol Tito scored 440 marks and Owuor Diana Adhiambo scored 439 to close the top five national slots.

Mbogo Mwenda Samson, Mwangangi Andrew Mutinda, Kamau Andrew Mundia and Maina Noela Wanjiru all scored 438 marks to tie at position six nationally.

Adhiambo Belinda, Onyango Awino Loren, Lupia Endrian Oduory, Mulitu Morris Muuo and Kiragu Brian Nzai each scored 437 marks to close the top slots nationally.

Christine Muthoni Kagiri of Tender Care Junior Academy School in Komarock Estate, Nairobi, scored 442 to clinch top position in the 2011 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination.[Photos: JENNIFER WACHIE/Standard]

Of the 12 candidates who scooped the top ten national positions, eight were boys and four girls. However, for the top 50 performers, there were 26 girls and 24 boys indicating 48 per cent and 52 percent share respectively.

Ongeri said even though the general performance in this examination remained at the same level with 2010, this year saw an improvement in the quality of scores.

He said the percentage of the candidates who scored 250 marks and above, which is the average mark for KCPE, was 48 per cent compared to last year’s 49.38.

New cheating trend

This year alone, some 5,806 candidates scored 400 marks and above compared to 2,723 last year. In the new ranking of Counties the minister expressed joy that all the top candidates in the new units all scored 400 and above.

Kirinyaga emerged the best performer with a mean of 274.67 followed by Nandi with 265.91. Makueni came third with 264.67, followed Uasin Gishu with 261.58 and Busia with 260.98. Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa were ranked eight, 12 and 15 respectively.

The poorest performing County was Tana River with 213.64 followed by Kwale with 218.01.

Ongeri said the good results this year showed performance is not concentrated in one region.

However, he said a new trend of cheating had emerged, involving collusion between teachers, pupils and parents.

About 7,974 candidates in some 334 of the 22,154 examination centres were reported to have cheated. The minister gave a strong warning to school heads that force weak pupils to repeat Standard Eight.

He said there was no correlation between good performance and old age and discouraged them against the practice.

"I ask the head teachers to stop this practice because it is detrimental. Children should be allowed to go through the education cycle without any hindrance," he said.