The 2016 KCSE examination results released on Thursday by Education CS Fred Matiang'i have posted a drop in the overall grades.
Matiang’i said there was a significant drop in the number of top grades achieved in the 2016 KCSE tests.
“There were only 141 (0.02 per cent) candidates who obtained an overall mean Grade A in the 2016 KCSE exams compared to 2,685 (0.51 per cent) in 2015,” he said as quoted by mygov.go.ke.
According to the CS, the same drop was also recorded in the total number of candidates who scored the minimum university entry mean grade requirement of C+ and above.
“The number of candidates with minimum university entry qualification of mean Grade C+ and above was 88,929 (15.41%) in the 2016 KCSE examination compared to 169,492 (32.23%) in 2015,” he said.
The CS who made the remarks at Shimo La Tewa High in Mombasa, however, commended some schools which maintained excellent performance in this year’s KCSE exams.
Alliance Girls had 25 candidates obtaining a mean grade of A Plain, the same as last year while The Kenya High had 21 candidates with mean grade of A Plain, one more than last year.
“I must commend some girls schools that have, unlike many other schools, nearly maintained their achievement of top mean grades in the KCSE 2016, including Alliance Girls and The Kenya High School. Alliance Girls had 25 candidates obtaining a mean grade of A Plain, the same as last year while The Kenya High had 21 candidates with mean grade of A Plain, one more than last year,” he said.
The CS said consistent to the Ministry of Education’s drive to rid the system of malpractices, the KCSE examination was not leaked at all.
“As a result, we are not cancelling results of any single candidate compared with 2015 when results for 5,101 candidates were cancelled,” he stated.
He observed that this was a confirmation that various security measures put in place during the administration and management of the 2016 KCSE Examination helped to nip in the bud any forms of cheating.
“I wish to report that all the attempted cases of examination malpractices were detected and dealt with appropriately before they could happen. We should also note that there are a few candidates whose results have been held back as Knec investigates the reasons as to why there were gaps in some of their examination papers, including failure to sit the minimum subjects or combinations as required,” he observed.
“ Such candidates will be informed of the KNEC decisions as soon as possible.”
The CS said the Knec Command and Control Centre is still in place to allow candidates to communicate to the council any concerns or observations regarding the examinations.
He said the public is encouraged to send in any feedback concerning the conduct of the examinations to the centre through toll-free telephone number 0800724900.
The CS informed all candidates and their parents or guardians that the KCSE examination results will be collected by their respective schools from the sub-county Director of Education offices.
“Candidates should, therefore, collect their results from their respective examination centres. Individual candidate results can also be accessed by sending a candidate’s index number through a SMS to 22252 immediately after this event,” he noted.
“Head teachers will be required to download and print the on-line results slips for candidates in their schools and authenticate them before they are released to parents, guardians or candidates.”
--mygov.go.ke