Academic giants in Kitui, Machakos and Makueni counties, whose dominance of the KCPE performance charts had been threatened by little known schools, reclaimed their glory in the 2021 exam results released yesterday.
They include Emmanuel Springs Academy, a private school in Makueni County that has been posting impressive results over the years. It topped the region in terms of the number of students who scored 400 marks and above. Of the 123 students who sat the exam at the school, 51 scored 400 marks and above.
“We have produced the best student in the county – Mweke Emmanuel Mutinda – who scored 420 marks,” Mr Patrick Mutua, the head teacher, said.
According to results seen by the Nation, Mr Mutua’s school outperformed known academic giants in the county, including Kari Mwailu Primary School, which produced the best KCPE pupil nationally in the 2020 exam. This year, the school’s top pupil, Christine Mwongeli, scored 417 marks.
At Miangeni International Academy, 25 attained 400 marks and above. The top KCPE pupil scored 420 marks, two marks above the top scorer at ACK Wote Primary School.
Tusunini Primary School produced five students with more than 400 marks, according to results seen by the Nation.
In Kibwezi region, Ngwiw’a Primary School stunned regional academic giants with Kyalo Victoria Mwongeli scoring 401 marks. In the neighbouring Ngaakaa Primary School, 15 students scored above 350 marks.
In Machakos County, private schools beat public ones in performance.
Willis Kasivu Musau of Lukenya Academy scored 418 marks, emerging among the best in the county. Some 13 students at Muumandu Hills Academy, which has had an impressive record, scored 400 marks and above. The top candidate scored 414 marks.
At the neighbouring Fullcare Academy, Muli Karen Kavila scored 410 marks while Muema Angel Wavinya attained 409 marks.
Teachers who spoke to Nation downplayed the drop in the performance of the regional academic giants, saying it reflected the overall performance in the examination nationally.
“The top student last year posted 433 marks. This has dropped to 428 marks this year. We expect that suppressed performance to reflect in all the results. It explains the drop in our performance,” a teacher at Kari Mwailu said.
