Hands up if you were the top KCPE student in your year. Very few of us know how it feels to be the top achiever in a national examination.
It’s been a great Monday for some candidates and one filled with the blues for others all across the country after the Ministry of Education today released the results of the 2018 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations.
Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed today announced the results of the 2018 KCPE exams at the Star of the Sea Primary school, in Mombasa.
Both the boy child and girl child have a reason to boast after there was a tie between two top candidates, Rawlings Odhiambo from Kakamega Hill and Olive Mwea from Riara Group of Schools who both scored 453 marks.
12,273 of the candidates scored 400 marks and above while 228,414 candidates scored 301- 400 marks which is higher than those in the 2017 national exam.
According to CS Amina Mohamed female candidates performed better than their male counterparts in English, Kiswahili and Kenyan Sign Language while male candidates performed better in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Religious Studies.
The CS commended the candidates saying that that over 50% of them scored 250 marks and above out of the 500 set marks. The CS also said that the number of special exam candidates grew this year with the highest performer scoring 446 marks from last year’s 423 marks.
CS Amina applauded the performance saying there was a notable improvement in the results which she attributed to a fair exam environment. Amina added that the results were a true reflection of hard work as credibility was maintained throughout adding that the few cases of attempted cheating were nipped it in the bud.
“I congratulate the Class of 2018 for demonstrating to all of us that hard work bears fruits and that true success is culmination of honest and dedicated effort. We will guarantee 100 per cent transition,” said the CS.
A total of 1,052,364 candidates (531,668 boys and 529,124 girls) across the country sat for the national KCPE exam from 30th October to 3rd November.
CS Amina Mohamed assured the country that this year’s election was void of cheating saying that none of the nine papers had been leaked. However, Teachers Service Commission Chair, Nancy Macharia said that 26 teachers were involved in cheating during the examination period.
Amina once again addressed the issue of teenage pregnancy which was rampant in the country during the examination that saw a huge number of candidates give birth during their exam period.
The CS was obviously disappointed with the huge number of teenage pregnancies as she termed it as a national crisis of huger magnitude than the Ministry had foreseen.
She further called on parents, guardians and the society to reject individualism in raising children saying that it takes a village to raise a child.
“We have refused to teach and care for our children, placing their rights over irrelevant things,” the CS said.
While Form One selection has been scheduled for 3rd December, candidates, especially those who did not perform exceptionally well can now breathe after President Kenyatta promised that every candidate who sat for the KCPE exam will have their admission to secondary school secured saying that their positions are already guaranteed and the government would meet the cost of their education.
Do you believe that the government will be able to secure admission for the over one million candidates?