Concern as boys’ exam performance dwindles
“Time has come for boys to be accorded special attention in school to salvage their dwindling performance,” these were the words of Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha as it emerged that girls had once again outshone their male counterparts for two years in a row.
“It is evident girls are competing favourably with boys for the top academic honours. Perhaps, it’s time we also started thinking of the boy child,” Magoha said during the release of this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination results yesterday.
Like last year, girls, in this year’s results, performed better than their male counterparts in Kiswahili, English and Sign Language. Boys, however, performed better in Mathematics, Sciences and Social Studies.
“There was, however, a slight drop in Mathematics and Science. Overall, I am impressed the performance was better than last year, an indicator that our teachers are doing a wonderful job in attending to our learners,” the CS added.
Among top notch performers who tied in the second position with 439 marks were two girls from public primary schools, Flavian Onyango of Chakol Girls and June Cheptoo Koech of Sang’alo Central.
The CS also noted a significant drop in teenage pregnancy cases among this year’s candidates. He attributed the decline to rigorous awareness campaign by the ministry through its field officers and critical stakeholders across the coutry.
“I am happy to report this campaign appeared to have helped the country to drastically reduce the number of cases reported this year, which stood at 10,” Magoha said.
In the results, out of the 1,083,456 who sat for the exams, 543,000 accounting for 50.2 per cent were boys, while 539,874 (49.8 per cent) were girls.
Eighteen counties registered more female than male candidates. They include Kakamega, Meru, Bungoma, Vihiga, Kisumu, Busia, Kiambu, Tharaka Nithi, Siaya, Kitui, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Trans Nzoia, Mombasa and Bomet.
