2023 KCSE exams: Private, public schools share spoils in Coast

Private schools in Mombasa have dominated the list of best performers in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results across the Coast region.

According to results obtained and compiled by Nation, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyah, Qubaa Muslim School, Light Academy and Memon Academy are among the private secondary schools that scored high mean scores with a large number of candidates scoring straight As.

However, Kwale High School and Matuga Girls in Kwale County together with Kenyatta High in Taita Taveta and Bahari Girls in Kilifi, put up a good show for Coast public schools.

At Sheikh Khalifa, nine students scored straight As. Among the top performers include Abdalla Issa Timmamy who is the son of Lamu Governor Issa Timamy, Yassir Abdhalfidh Mohammed, Abed Azhar, Fathudin Ibrahim Rashid, Anwar Jannah Salim, Umulkheir Siyat Moge, Mariam Ilham Ibrahim and Fatma Omar Salim.

“I’m happy to have gotten straight As and emerged among the top KCSE students from the Coast region. I didn’t expect to emerge at the top, I am on top of the world,” said Abdalla.

The school principal, Mr Sheikh Rishad said the school had a mean score of 9.42 with 217 candidates.

Mr Rishad said their performance improved due to the new grading system that reduced compulsory subjects from three to two, including Mathematics and any language — Kiswahili, English or Kenya Sign Language.

At Qubaa Muslim School, the principal, Mr Leonard Mbalu, said there was a marked improvement this year. The school had a mean score of 8.8 from the 55 students who sat the exam.

“Last year we did not have an A, but this year we have two. We also had 7 C plains last year, but this year every student will be able to join university apart from three who scored C plain. This is a big progress for us,” said Mr Mbalu.

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Asma Mohamed, the top student at Qubaa Muslim School, said she aspires to become a software engineer.

Mohamed Ahmed Almaawy emerged top student at Light Academy in Mombasa with a grade of A. He was also the top student at M M Shah Primary School in 2019 where he scored 408 marks in KCPE. Mohamed expressed a desire to study medicine at university.

Still in Mombasa, Light Academy had a mean score of 10.2 in the results that were announced on Monday.

Among the top students were Nuru Seyd Abubakar and Mohamed Ahmed who scored a mean grade of A with 84 and 83 points, respectively.

National schools in Kwale County produced the best candidates among public schools in the Coast region.

Kwale Boys High School led with a mean score of 8.97 after three of its candidates scored A plain grades.

Speaking to the Nation, school principal Michael Mutua said this was the first time the school had a candidate with an A plain since 2014.

“We are happy because our results have improved. We are also sending 99 per cent of the students directly to the university,” said Mr Mutua.

Out of the 346 registered candidates, 343 scored C+ and above.

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Kwale County’s leading student Daniel Muasya said the secret to his performance was discipline and consultation.

“I want to thank my teachers and parents because they pushed me to perform my best,” he said, adding that he would like to study medicine at the University of Nairobi.

He was followed by Bakari Nyondo and Brian Mumo who equally scored As of 81 points. The school had 24 other candidates scoring A-.

In Matuga Girls, five girls led scoring a mean Grade of A minus. Lauryn Shukran, Catherine Mwikali, Bisiti Liganje, Tima Said and Mgeni Mwavyema emerged the top girls in the national school.

The school equally improved on performance posting a mean score of 7.70, an improvement from 7.35 during the 2022 exams.

"We are happy because we have improved from last year and our candidates have topped the county. We also thank the county government for sponsoring the students through scholarships," said Chief Principal Gladys Chivatsi.

In Taita Taveta, Kenyatta High School Mwatate posted a mean score of 8.04 in the 2023 examination a drop from 8.2 in 2022. This year four candidates from the school scored As,  A- (17) and B+ (29).

Bura Girls posted a mean score of 7.6 an improvement from 7.5 in the 2022 examination.

Dr Aggrey, which was the top school in the county in the 2022 exams, had a mean score of 7.08, a huge drop from 8.6.

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In Kilifi, Bahari Girls National School had nine students with A- grades. The school had a mean score of 7.691 with 260 candidates having sat the exam.

Among the top students at the school were Nzai Judith Mapenzi, Jackline Kagendo Kirimi, Inna Milka Yeziel and Musee Lilian Mwikali who led the pack with 71 points each.

At the St John’s Girls Secondary School Kaloleni, Senior Principal Beatrice Misigo expressed her happiness after producing a top student with an A- for the first time in a decade.

Jenifer Omondi Atieno was the only candidate at the school who scored A- out of over 300 students.

“An A has been elusive in this school since 2013 and we thank God for that,” Ms Misigo said, who joined the school in January 2023.

A number of schools in the region were yet to reveal their results by the time of going to press, with some principals claiming difficulties to obtain the results from the new Kenya National Examination Council portal.

Nationally, a total of 899,453 candidates sat the KCSE whose results were released by Education CS Ezekiel Machogu at Moi Girls High School Eldoret.

In his speech, Mr Machogu revealed that Mombasa and Lamu were among 11 counties that had a significant entry of more male than female candidates.

Mombasa had 52.05 per cent male candidates against 47.95 per cent female while Lamu had 51.67 male candidates against 48.33 female.

Reported by Winnie Atieno, Farhiya Hussein, Siago Cece, Maureen Ongala and Lucy Mkanyika