After completing her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination last year, Rose Wakio was disappointed after getting a B- grade.
The 19-year-old's dreams of pursuing a course in medicine were shattered after she failed to attain the required mark for university direct entry for her course.
However, her hopes were rekindled after the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) issued fresh rules allowing for a mid-year KCSE examination series.
Rose, who emerged the top candidate at Hassan Joho Girls Secondary School in Kisauni, Mombasa in the 2024 KCSE, was among hundreds of Form Four leavers who turned up at the Technical University of Mombasa (Tum) for career guidance on Wednesday.
Rose wants to repeat one subject that made her fail to achieve her target grades, that is mathematics where she got a C-.
“I want to repeat to get a B+ and above to be eligible to study medicine. This is a second chance for me and many others like me. However, I am afraid of how I will be able to pay the Sh7,200 fee for the examination. I am a product of Kisauni constituency bursary,” she told Nation.Africa.
While announcing the new mid-year national examinations, Knec Chief Executive Officer David Njengere said the July series is targeting different categories of candidates including candidates who sat the KCSE examination in previous years, wishing to improve on their grades.
This includes full repeaters who will register for seven or more subjects, or partial repeaters registering for less than seven subjects.
However, all repeaters and private candidates must register for the July series and not the November KCSE examination series.
The registration period for the 2025 KCSE examination July series commenced on January 27 and ends on February 21, 2025.
Tum hosted more than 2,000 form four leavers who got Grades D+ and above to advise them on career choices.
However, not only those who got Grades D+ and above turned up for the important education event, those who got Ds and Es were also present to listen to the education experts.
“I got an E. I came to this university to see what I could do with my grades. I am happy that even with my E I can join a vocational college to learn a craft from certificate and climb up the ladder,” said one of the Form Four leavers present.
The 17-year-old girl from Kwale County said she has always aspired to be a nurse but she is contemplating studying mechanics.
“I was sad that I got an E but not all is lost. I know I can do something with my life. I wanted a C and above but I did not get it. We do not always get everything we want in life. But I thank God for everything,” said the girl.
Twenty-year-old Israel Shume who got a D+ from Freretown Secondary School in Mombasa said he wanted to undertake a course in teaching or journalism.
“I was disappointed with my grades, I expected C+ and above. But I was happy when we were invited to this university for career guidance and counseling. I came here to see courses that fit my grades,” said Israel.
He would have wished to repeat to get better results for university entry but just like his colleagues, the Sh7,200 examination fee is a challenge.
Tum Director of the Directorate of Career Services Madiha Salim told the form four leavers there are no losers in life regardless of KCSE grades.
“There is space for everybody. Your education journey does not end because you have a D or E grade. We have the TVETs pathway where you can enroll with your E for artisan courses, then you climb the ladder with craft courses,” said Dr Salim.
For instance, she said form four leavers can start with electrical engineering at artisan level, progress at craft level course, Diploma, Degree, Master’s up to PhD.
“Not everybody is capable of getting a C+ and above. Something could have happened that’s why you did not get that grade. We have many students wasting out doing a lot of nothing because they have been defined by their grades,” said Dr Salim.
The career expert said students with Ds and Es can be absorbed in TVETs adding that employers are seeking skilled employees.
A total of 48,333 candidates out of the 962,512 scored a mean grade of E in the 2024 KCSE examinations, marking an increase from the 48,174 candidates who recorded the same grade in 2023.
