Education CS Jacob Kaimenyi (R) his PS Belio Kipsang (L) and KNUT officials hold a copy of KCPE 2014. Photo/ MIKE KARIUKI
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 29 – About half of the 889,000 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination candidates scored over 251 marks out of 500.
Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, while announcing the results on Monday, said only 5, 584 pupils scored between 401 marks and 450 marks.
“That was a very small percentage,” he explained as he added that a majority (54 percent) of the pupils scored between 201 and 300 marks.
The aggregates were as follows;
15. 78 percent of the candidates attained 301 and 350 marks.
26.45 percent attained 251 to 300.
28.02 percent got 201 to 250 marks.
16.5 percent got 151 to 200 marks.
5.59 percent scored between 101 and 150 marks.
Less than one percent scored below 100 marks.
Despite an increase in this year’s candidature by five percent, Kaimenyi said the performance was comparable to the 2013 results.
The number of examination irregularities increased this year with a record of 1,702 students involved. Although Kaimenyi said it was low, he warned that any cheating will not be tolerated.
Cheating was reported mainly in English and Kiswahili and was mostly collusion involving an entire classroom, parents, invigilators and teachers.
“Nobody wants to get good grades because they cheated, it lives with you forever. It is totally unhealthy to compete that way. It is extremely disheartening to know some teachers and some parents are actually involved. Some parents are even the ones who mark and buy fake exams,” he lashed.
Kaimenyi ordered the Exam Quality Commission to investigate why cheating was done in the two subjects and also unearth the culprits involved in the vice.
In 2014, there was an increase of 17 percent of candidates with special needs who sat the exam compared to the previous year in which 1, 785 were examined.
The highest number of them were candidates with physical disabilities (695).
44 candidates did their exam while in hospital as 248 sat the exam in prisons.
Others included 666 candidates with hearing impairment.
Kaimenyi however was disgruntled that students with special needs in the country are still being discriminated and not receiving proper treatment like other students.
He urged schools that turn them away because of their impairment to cease the inhuman treatment.
The ratio between girls and boys was also tight with 437, 288 girls and 443, 258 boys sitting the 2014 KCPE.
Whereas the girls ratio increased by five percent, Kaimenyi was concerned why the number of boys who sat the examination was on a decline trend and ordered for investigations.
However, he also expressed concerns over the plight of girls who are still facing challenges of early marriages that force them out of school.
Kaimenyi said 687,000 of the 889,000 KCPE candidates will be absorbed in secondary schools to cover those who scored over 200 marks.
According to the CS, the government had upgraded extra 27 secondary schools to the national level bring the total number of national secondary schools to 105.
He father promised the candidates who will not get selected to join form one that they will have the alternative of enrolling in polytechnics and vocational training centers.
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