Schools in Kisii County have emerged top in the Nyanza region, according to 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results.
The county has produced seven schools in the top 20 category, while the neighbouring Nyamira had no school featuring in the list according to the preliminary results received by Nation.
Leading the pack was Excel Elementary School in Kisii which registered an impressive mean score of 401.
Out of the 81 candidates who sat for the exam in the school, 42 scored 400 marks and above out of the possible 500 marks while the last candidate had 379 marks.
It was closely followed Siaya’s St Gloria Nyamonye Junior Academy which had a 396.49 mean score with 15 out of 39 candidates getting over 400 marks while the least got 349 marks.
Other top schools from Nyanza included Imperial Primary School (Kisii), Momokoro Academy (Migori), Precious Suneka (Kisii) and Olympic Junior School Nyamache from Kisii County.
Migori, which has ranked second with a total of five schools appearing in the top 20 category, also had St Benedicts Parochial appearing at number seven with a mean score of 390.07 as Elimu Academy from Kisii registered 390.7.
On the other hand, Echoes of Mercy Christian School from Homa Bay had 388.6 while Kisii’s Maxwel Campus Academy closed the list of the best 10 with a score of 386.7045.
Kisumu County, which had the first school listed at number 13, only produced three schools, the same as Homa Bay as Siaya only had two, with Medula Academy from Siaya sealing the number 20 position with a mean score of 370.
Nyamira, however, did not have a single school in the top 20 as Eronge Adventist Boarding Primary School had a mean score of 359.20, followed by Our Lady of Mercy Ibara Girls Boarding Primary.
All the top schools were private schools as public schools suffered the burden of huge enrolment that affected the general performance of the institutions.
Xaverian Primary, which produced the leading candidate among those in public schools in Kisumu County, had a mean score of 336.91 with a total of 233 registered candidates.
The school head teacher Mr George Polo attributed the feat to the hard work of both teachers, parents and pupils.
“It is by the grace of God that over 14 pupils scored over 400 marks. We hope to do much better in the coming years,” he said.
Despite registering 235 candidates, Joel Omino Primary School managed a mean score of 312.
The school head teacher Mrs Veronica Otieno noted that the school, which is located in Nyalenda slum, saw 211 candidates getting 300 marks and above.
MM Shah Primary School, which had a mean score of 331.4, registered 346 candidates as 11 candidates posted over 400 marks.
Victoria Primary also asserted its authority as an academic giant in the region by posting 12 candidates with over 400 marks and a mean of 340.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Rachuonyo branch secretary Eliud Ombori also noted that the population of learners in a class is one of the main factors that has affected performance in public schools.
He said schools with more pupils and fewer teachers are not likely to get the high marks that their counterparts from schools with few learners get.
"Overcrowding in the classroom makes teachers concentrate on a few pupils. This has been the main challenge with public school," Mr Ombori said.
- Reporting by Victor Raballa, Ruth Mbula, Wycliffe Nyaberi, Angeline Ochieng, Kassim Adinasi and George Odiwuor
