Academic giants in Central Kenya maintained their dominance, posting high grades and producing top candidates nationally in the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
More female candidates than male sat for the national exam in the region, but boys took most of the top positions.
Mang'u High School and Alliance High School in Kiambu produced the top three candidates nationally. The national champion, Jeriel Ndeda from Mangú, scored an A mean grade of 87.16 points, while Timothy Mukuha of Alliance High School was ranked second with an A of 87.13 points.
Kagumo High School in Nyeri recorded a mean score of 9.78 points, an improvement from a mean of 9.41 last year. The school had 40 candidates who scored straight A grades.
Njue Angel Muthoni of Alliance Girls. She scored a mean grade of A with 84 points.
Photo credit: Pool
Kagumo High School in Nyeri topped the chart, recording a mean score of 9.78, which rose from 9.41 last year. The school also had 40 candidates with straight As. Of the 349 candidates who sat the exams last month, 98 posted A minus. Speaking at the school yesterday, principal Silas Mwirigi said the improved performance this year had seen 98 per cent of the students score C plus and above to qualify for admission to university.
Dr Mwirigi attributed the exemplary performance to the timely completion of the syllabus by teachers. “We ensure that our candidates get enough time for revision without putting pressure on them at the last minute,” he said.
Nanyuki High School in Laikipia County had two students with As and 32 with A minus. The school, which has been the most desired during selection for two years in a row, had a mean score of 8.739, up from 8.683 in 2020.
The institution has a capacity of 480 students but received applications from 156,003 learners.
In June last year, the Ministry of Education earmarked Nanyuki High School for adoption as a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) centre of excellence.
Principal Oliver Minishi said: “We have invested heavily in technical subjects despite the fact that the subjects are not being supported fully by the Ministry of Education. This has been immensely attributed to steady improvement in performance”.
The school was elevated to national level in 2018. It recorded an improvement in performance in 2020 with a mean grade of 8.6 points, emerging tops in Laikipia County. “We are quickly making preparations for the CBC pathways by having technical subjects like aviation, computer studies, electricity, music and woodwork,” the principal said.
In Baricho Boys High School in Kirinyaga County, 17 candidates scored straight As, emerging among top schools in the region. This is an improvement from last year when the school had 10 students scoring As. The school also had 76 candidates with an A minus and 112 B+. The top candidates, Kennedy Muchai and Friendrick Njuguna Wanjeri, scored grade A of 83 points.
Following the sterling performance, teachers burst into celebrations. Chief principal Benard Mwangi attributed the excellent results to God’s intervention and teamwork. “We have been collaborating well with teachers, parents and students and that is why Baricho has been performing well in KCSE,” he said.
“I’m very happy about the results because we are among the best schools in Kenya and I thank the teachers for doing a good job,” said Board of Management chairman James Karumba.
Other schools from Kirinyaga that performed well are Kabare, Mutira and Kiaritha.
And in Embu, Moi High School, Mbiruri, also posted impressive results, with 12 candidates posting As and 36 A minuses. The top candidates, Benmofatt Kobia and Chris Karuga, scored grade A of 83 points. Principal Patrick Nderitu said most candidates qualified to join universities.
“Most of the candidates performed exemplary well and we are happy,” he said.
Chuka Boys’ High and Ikuu Boys High from Chuka/Igambang’ombe constituency were third and forth with mean scores of 7.6 and 7.2 respectively.
Central’s counties—Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Kiambu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua and Laikipia—had more female candidates. A total of 826,807 candidates sat the exam nationally compared to 747,161 in 2020.
Reporting by Mercy Mwende, James Murimi, George Munene, Waweru Wairimu and Alex Njeru
