Kakamega county has since 2015 produced the top KCPE candidate countrywide and this year was no different.
Aggrey Khanyinya of St Joseph’s Academy Kakamega was the top candidate in 2015.
In 2016 Victor Odhiambo from Daisy Special School for the Physically Handicapped was the best candidate while Goldalyn Kakuya of St Anne’s Junior Academy-Lubao topped in 2017.
Two students tied in the top position this year. One was Rawlings Odhiambo from Kakamega Hills Academy and the other Olive Wachira from Riara Group of Schools, Nairobi. They both had 453 marks.
Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya attributed the good performance to cooperation between the county government, teachers, parents and students.
“When we first came in as the leading county, we invested in education, including hiring an additional 520 tutors despite education not being devolved,” he said yesterday.
Kakamega Hills Academy director Selpher Omulisia said out of the four top candidates since 2015, Odhiambo was the only one who was in a public school.
The county offers one-year sponsorship to the top candidate to motivate other learners. Senator Cleophas Malala said the results indicate that there are quality tutors in private schools who have not been recruited by the Teachers Service Commission.
He said teachers in private schools are underpaid by the “business-oriented” proprietors.
Oparanya said, “The government should come up with a national policy that will spell out the minimum salary for teachers, whether employed by public or private schools.”
He said overall performance by public schools has improved in the past five years. Lugari MP Ayub Savula said Kakamega is the ‘home of academic giants’.