Uproar grows over KCSE exam mass failure

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i speaks about the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination results at Nairobi School on December 20, 2017. Many certificate courses have recently upgraded entry qualification to a minimum of C. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• An analysis of the results shows that 135,550 candidates scored grade D, 179,381 grade D- and 35,536 grade E.
• The candidates with low grades do not have many options given the tight race for professional courses and employment.
• Mr Odinga said the low transition from secondary school to university should be a cause for worry.

By DAVID ADUDA
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By OUMA WANZALA
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More than half the candidates who sat last year’s Form Four examination failed and cannot proceed to higher education or secure gainful employment.

On Thursday, Parliament’s Education Committee chairman Julius Melly, Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general Wilson Sossion questioned the credibility of the results.

In separate statements, the leaders asked how only 10 per cent of the candidates managed to get grades that can allow them to join university and called for a re-mark of the papers.

At least 350,000 students obtained grades D and below, which cuts them off from pursuing any professional course.

Basic certificate training opportunities such as police or prison warders admit students with at least D+.

Many certificate courses have recently upgraded entry qualification to a minimum of C.

PERFORMANCE
An analysis of the results shows that 135,550 candidates scored grade D, 179,381 grade D- and 35,536 grade E.

In total, 611,959 candidates registered for the exam although statistics show that 610,501 actually wrote the papers.

This means 57.27 per cent of the candidates flopped.

Comparatively, in 2016, there were 295,463 candidates who scored grades D and below out of a candidature of 574,125.

The high number of candidates scoring low grades has caused an uproar, with concern the education system was becoming wasteful.

EMPLOYMENT

The candidates with low grades do not have many options given the tight race for professional courses and employment.

Already, teachers’ unions, education experts and political leaders have raised concern over the poor grades.

In contrast, only 70,073 candidates obtained grades C+ and above, which is the minimum entry point to university.

Mr Odinga called for a taskforce to investigate the poor performance.

In a statement Thursday, Mr Odinga said the low transition from secondary school to university should be a cause for worry.

“Close to 90 per cent of the KCSE candidates have failed. This is very worrying,” he said.

KNEC
Reiterating the country’s need for skilled manpower to achieve growth, the former prime minister said transition to university is key to realisation of national goals.

He asked the Education ministry to address concerns raised by parents and teachers’ unions on the failure.

“As the country commits resources to free learning and scales up enrolment, the whole purpose and value for money is lost when close to 90 per cent of those students eventually fail,” Mr Odinga said.

The Opposition leader congratulated teachers and schools that excelled in the national test.

He also noted the improvements at the Kenya National Examinations Council that have seen a reduction in cheating and speedy release of results.

Mr Melly said the Education committee in the National Assembly will demand a full report on the results.

“Knec must prepare and present to us a report over this mass failure by students. This cannot just happen. Either students were not being taught or the curriculum is too difficult for them to understand,” Mr Melly said.

EARLY RELEASE
Mr Sossion said: “The release of KCSE results before going through the required and mandatory moderation process is a blunder of monumental proportions.

"We condemn the release of the exam results in the strongest terms possible as it amounts to a fraud that has led to students mass failure.”

He said the exams had destroyed the future of many children and dashed hopes of many families and they are bound to destroy public universities.

“We hereby reject the results and demand immediate recall of the same.

"A thorough audit has to be conducted by a team of experts on measurement and evaluation for Kenyans to know the truth,” Mr Sossion said.

HIGHER EDUCATION
Releasing the results on Wednesday, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i acknowledged a remarkable decline of candidates qualifying for university education.

“Overall, the number of candidates with minimum university entry qualification of mean grade C+ and above is 70,073 (11.38 per cent) in 2017 compared to 88,929 (15.41 per cent) in 2016.”

Even more unsettling is the fact that only 142 candidates scored grade A in the exams, which was an insignificant rise compared to last year’s 141.

A further analysis shows that the top 100 candidates in the exam across the country came from only 18 out of 47 counties.

COUNTIES

Nairobi County, which boasts of top national schools, dominates the list with 20 candidates while Kiambu County had nine, Uasin Gishu County eight and Nakuru 10.

Other counties that had candidates in the top 100 were Siaya, Migori, Kisii, Trans Nzoia, Murang’a, Kericho, Bungoma, Nyamira, Kakamega, Kisumu, Nyeri, Nandi, Homa Bay and Nyandarua.

Those that missed out included Busia, Narok, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River, Kwale, Taita-Taveta, Baringo, Kilifi, Mandera, Turkana, Isiolo and Bomet.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS
Another 15 counties had no school in the top 100 that recorded excellent results.

A total of 54 boys scored grade A out of 100 with the remaining 46 being girls.

The best 100 slots were dominated by national schools. Private schools and extra-county schools also performed well.

An analysis of the results further shows that girls dominated top positions, with Kirimi Naomi Kawira of Pangani Girls topping the charts with a performance index of 87.011, followed by Sharon Jepchumba of Moi Girls Eldoret (86.83) while Kamau Brian Maina of Alliance High School came third with 86.757.

GIRLS

The top school was Sing’ore Girls High School from Elgeyo Marakwet County, which had a performance index of 69.9 points, followed by Light Academy of Mombasa, with a performance index of 69.1 per cent.

Statistically, there were six girls among the best 10 candidates, and 11 among the top 20.

Similarly, girls’ schools dominated the top 10 berths.