KCSE 2016 results: Only 141 As from over 88,900 candidates with C+ and above

Only 88,929 students scored between A and C+ (plus) in the 2016 KCSE examination, Education CS Fred Matiang’i said on Thursday.

“All candidates who scored between grade A and C+ will be absorbed in universities,” he said during the release of the results at Shimo la Tewa High School in Mombasa.

Matiang’i said 141 candidates scored As, 4,645 candidates scored A- and 10,975 scored B+ (plus).

“This is a true reflection of candidates’ result, without manipulation and massaging of the results,” the Cabinet Secretary said.

Matiang’i said that the top 20 candidates consisted of 16 girls and 4 boys. The CS said that no results have been cancelled.

“There was no cheating in this examination. All candidates will receive their results which are a reflection of their effort,” he said.

He said there are schools that registered 196 As in 2015 but noted that they could not produce as little as 15 this year.

“However, two schools have been consistent in the number of candidates who got grade A…that is Alliance Girls High School and Kenya High,” he said.

Candidates have been advised to get the results by sending their index number to SMS code 22252.

Matiang’i was accompanied by education officials during the release of the results for the 577,253 candidates who wrote KCSE this year.

KCSE was administered from November 7 to 30, 2016 in 9,158 centers across the country.

Earlier this month, Matiang’i had asked all parties involved in the 2016 KCSE to complete the job before Christmas celebrations.

The CS, during the launch of form one selection at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, urged the examiners to work round the clock to ensure the exams are released within schedule.

In 2015, results of 5,101 students were cancelled – a figure deemed the highest in the history of examinations in the country.

This translated to a 70 per cent rise in the number of cases of irregularities compared to the 2,975 cases reported in 2014.

 

Only 141 candidates managed to score a mean grade of A-plain in this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, a shocking drop from 2,636 candidates who attained the grade last year.

Releasing the results at Shimo la Tewa High School in Mombasa on Thursday, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i had even more shocking news — that only 88,928 candidates attained C-plus and above in the 2016 examination.

This number compares with 169,492 candidates who managed the grades of C-plus and above in 2015.

The shock results could be symptomatic of the culture of examination cheating and leakages that has clouded national examinations in the past several years.

Dr Matiang’i also said no results were cancelled in this year’s examinations.

Candidates can receive their results by sending their index number to SMS code 22252. The SMS cost is Sh25.

The results of 5,000 candidates were cancelled last year because of irregularities.

The number of straight A’s in this year’s examination was much lower than those scored by candidates from some top schools in the previous year.

For instance, schools that managed over 141 straight A’s in the 2015 KCSE examination included Moi High School Kabarak (202) and Alliance High School (200), among others.

Dr Matiang’i captured the extent of the drop in performance when he stated that some schools that previously managed 196 straight A’s could hardly manage 15 this year.

“Last year, schools which produced 196 straight As could not produce 15,” he noted.

ALLIANCE GIRLS

He, however, singled out Alliance Girls High School and Kenya High School for posting “honest and consistent” results every year.

Kenya High School managed 21 straight A’s this year, compared with 20 last year, Dr Matiang’i noted.

The mood had been captured much earlier by Kenya National Examination Council chairman George Magoha, when he stated:

“The letter is very good and I can remember during my time, I only managed one A, only kamoja (one). The boy who got an A in my class, I can still remember him 40 years later, so this nonsense of everybody getting an A, please come out of it.”

President Kenyatta had also spoken about the significant drop when he received a comprehensive report of the results from Dr Matiang’i ahead of their official release.

President Kenyatta, however, maintained that notwithstanding the drop in performance, the results by and large indicated a normal performance curve, a clear indication that both the examination marking and final results are credible.

The drop in performance comes barely a month after Prof Magoha warned that there would be a drop in the number of A’s posted in the examination this year compared with previous years.

Speaking in Kisumu last month, he warned that the number of students who get the grade will drop because of tighter quality controls.

SUPERVISION

This, he said, would be a result of tighter monitoring and supervision of the 2016 examination.

“The reason why you have seen a lot of government involvement is because we have gotten into a stage where Kenyan examination papers are being questioned elsewhere and holders even re-examined elsewhere. That is to say that our certificates papers are about to become worthless,” he revealed.

He added that in any population, the “A materials” fall between five and 10 per cent, and therefore Kenya being a normal country cannot keep producing A’s that surpass what would be expected in a normal distribution curve.

“Anything outside that bracket [of five to 10 per cent] is suspicious or extraordinary and for a school to have 96.6 per cent scoring A, then that is stupidity of the highest level and nobody should be associated with such,” he stated.

Speaking after receiving the report from Dr Matiang’i on Thursday, President Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Education to put in place effective plans to institutionalise the ongoing reforms in the sector to ensure sustainability and entrenchment.

He emphasised that there was no room for sliding back on the reforms, saying no effort should be spared in ensuring the Ministry moves to the next parts of the sector to safeguard proper utilisation of exchequer resources, and eradicate wastage and bureaucratic inertia that often lead to failure in the achievement of set targets.