Though Boys continue to dominate the KCPE top performers’ charts, the girl are catching up rather fast.
In total, 1,052,364 candidates sat for the 2018 KCPE examinations; 527,294 (50.1%) were boys, 525,070 (49.9%) were girls a difference of 2224.
“An analysis of the gender trend in candidates this year indicates that the number of girls has consistently been higher than that of boys,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, adding that 23 out of the 47 counties registered more female candidates.
This year saw a tie at the top candidates; Rawlings Odhiambo from Kakamega Hill School and Olive Mwea from Riara School, Nairobi both scored 453 out of 500 marks. CS Amina also announced that the female candidates performed better than the boys in English, Swahili and the Kenyan Sign Language exams.
The male candidates on the other hand performed better in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Religious studies.
Female candidates performed better than their male counterparts in English, Kiswahili and Kenyan Sign Language; Male candidates better in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Religious Studies.
Last year, the ratio of boys to girls who sat KCPE examination was almost at par with 498,775 (50.19 percent) being boys while 494,943 (48.1percent) were girls. 27 counties registered more girls than boys.
The selection of candidates who will join Form One in 2019 will start on December 3, Amina also confirmed. The CS also revealed that over 50 percent of the candidates scored over 250 marks.