Kirinyaga, Elgeyo Marakwet top again

Abigail Wairimu Mwangi, the top KCPE student in Kirinyaga County from Good Shepherd Academy is congratulated by the family members, friends and teachers at the school. She attained 434 marks. Kirinyaga and Elgeyo Marakwet counties have again emerged tops in the national Standard Eight exams. PHOTO/NJOROGE KABURO 

In Summary

• They have been ranked first and second respectively in last year’s Kenya Certificate of  Primary Education (KCPE) examination results who results were released Tuesday.
• This means that all the  candidates who sat the examinations from the either of the counties recorded more than half of the total marks required in five subjects.
• Uasin Gishu which was ranked fourth in 2012 has slid one place to fifth.
• Nairobi county emerged the most improved county rising from position 15 to seventh.

By SAMUEL SIRINGI
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Kirinyaga and Elgeyo Marakwet counties have again emerged tops in the national Standard Eight exams.

They have been ranked first and second respectively in last year’s Kenya Certificate of  Primary Education (KCPE) examination results who results were released Tuesday.

They were ranked in the same positions in the 2012 KCPE. 2013, Kirinyaga had a mean average of 275 marks while Elgeyo Marakwet had a mean mark of 271.

This means that all the  candidates who sat the examinations from the either of the counties recorded more than half of the total marks required in five subjects.

The maximum mark a candidate can score is 500.

Rift Valley region took half of the top 10 slots. Nandi county has also retained its third position, sharing the slot with Makueni.

Uasin Gishu which was ranked fourth in 2012 has slid one place to fifth.

It is followed by Busia, which has climbed from seventh the previous year.

Nairobi county emerged the most improved county rising from position 15 to seventh.

Its mean score rose by six percentage points to hit 265 in 2013.

Baringo slid from position four in 2012 to seventh in 2013, seeing it also drop its mean performance.

Kisumu improved one place to scoop position seven last year.

Tharaka Nithi and West Pokot counties, which tied in position nine in 2012, both dropped one place to record another tie in position 10.

They both had a mean score of 263 marks.

Samburu county was one of the most improved counties moving from position 30 in 2012 to 22 in 2013.

Turkana county also rose from position 27 to 19 last year.

Although Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi congratulated the counties that emerged top 10, he also praised those that recorded improvements.

“I wish to congratulate the counties that are ranked in the top 10 nationally, he said, “and those that have recorded a significant improvement in performance.”

Mandera  and Garissa counties brought up the rear, tying at position 46 with a mean of 183 marks.

The counties were ranked 47 and 46 respectively in 2013.

Other poor performers were Tana River (45), Lamu (44) and Wajir (43).

An analysis of the table shows that whereas counties from the Central and Rift Valley regions were competing for the top slots, those from the Coast, northern Kenya and parts of Nyanza were busy fighti

ng it out at the tail end.