Top girl: I was aiming for 430 but I’m content with 427
Jacintah Khasungu Bethany, who sat the KCPE exams at St Annes Primary Mumias in Kakamega County, was the top girl with 427 marks.
What you need to know:
- Jacinta Khasungu from St Anne’s Girls Primary School in Mumias, Kakamega County, scored 427 marks to emerge the best girl in the country.
- Her score put her one mark shy of the country's top candidate, who recorded 428 marks.
Though she is content with scoring 427 marks to emerge the second-best candidate and the top girl in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, Jacinta Khasungu from St Anne’s Girls Primary School in Mumias, Kakamega County, believes she could have done better.
She had aimed for 430 marks and above. Her score put her one mark shy of the country's top candidate, who recorded 428 marks out of the possible 500.
“It is not by surprise that I have scored 427 marks. But this is not what I worked for. I expected to manage 430 and above, but I will be content with what God has given me because I have emerged as the best girl in Kenya,” said the 14-year old.
The second-born daughter in a family of five attributes her sterling performance to listening to advice from teachers and parents and putting God first in her studies.
Her desire is to join Kenya High School in order to fulfil her dream of becoming a clinical engineer (an engineer who designs medical equipment). Her uncle, Mr Mathews Mwanza, was full of praise for her, saying, she has done the family proud.
“As a family, we have been expecting greater results from her. She has been sleeping late and waking up early. She dedicated most of her time to reading and we had put her in our prayers. We thank God for answering our prayers,” said Mr Mwanza.
St Anne’s Primary School headteacher Sister Cyrila Sanya said the KCPE class of 2023 was a promising lot that gave all indications of performing well in the national examination.
“The top girl was extremely promising. She had been leading in her class since the lower grades and has always been among the best three performers in her class. We expected the best from her and God has answered our prayers. The position she has held in the country is not by mistake, she deserves it,” she said.
The school presented 289 candidates for the KCPE exams this year. Its performance has exceeded that of last year when the best candidate recorded 422 marks.
The school’s Board of Management chairman Peter Guya said they had gone through difficult times but the girl had wiped their tears with the sterling performance.
"This has been a bad year for us as a school. We have been faced with a lot of challenges but we are grateful to God that He has restored our tears with this victory. The young girl has done us proud,” said Mr Guya.
