Magoha’s own report card since 2016
The Government has spent at least Sh27 billion for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination fees since 2016.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha, while releasing the KCSE results, challenged Ministers who come after him to keep the trajectory of reforms and safeguard the integrity of exams.
“Since 2016, the Government has spent Sh5.5 billion for KCPE and Sh22 billion for KCSE, totaling Sh27.7 billion,” he said.
“For the many more Cabinet Secretaries who will come after me, the main thing that I advise them is, not to drop the ball in safeguarding the integrity of our national examinations. They must keep intact the trajectory of the exam reforms that we have put in place,” the CS added.
He said the trajectory has ensured that no learner fails to sit national exams for inability to pay the required fees.
The CS explained that this was achieved when the Government took over the payment of exam fees for all candidates enrolled in both public and private schools.
The best candidate
In the results released on Saturday, Jariel Ndeda Obura was the best candidate. He beat over 800,000 others who sat the exams between March 11 and April 1, 2022.
Obura, from Mang’u High School, garnered 87.167 points out of the possible 100 points — a straight A.
Some 789 boys scored A plain, beating girls who had 349 A plain, summing up to 1,138 candidates.
A total of 826,807 candidates sat the examination in 10,413 centres, against 752,981 in 10,437 centres in 2020, reflecting an increase of 78,034 or 9.39 per cent.
Out of the candidates, 421,000 were male and the others female. The candidates were acclaimed for beating the odds, including Covid-19 shocks, to register remarkable performances.
Schools with top performing students included Kapsabet High, Mangu High, Kenya High, Alliance High, Kakamega and Pangani Girls. Others in the top league included Light Academy, Kipsigis Girls, Strathmore School and Alliance Girls.
Recounting his stay at the ministry, Magoha staked credit for delivering credible examinations devoid of malpractices.
Also among his achievements , he said was ensuring that the November to December exams for Grade 6, Class 8 and Form 4 candidates were ready for administration. “I direct the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to start registering all candidates for the 2022 Grade 6, KCPE and KCSE examinations,” directed the CS.
Already, KNEC has indicated that the registration for national exams will commence this Wednesday, with the Council expected to meet sub-county directors of Education tomorrow to guide them on the process.
Magoha said there has been an impressive transition rate from primary to secondary education under the 100 per cent transition policy. “ I am proud to have led the campaigns that have achieved the 100 per cent transition of two KCPE cohorts (2019 and 2020). This has seen enrolment in secondary schools grow from 1.3 million in 2008 to 3.5 million in 2022,” he said.
Magoha added that from May 3, the multi-agency team would work tirelessly to ensure that all the 2021 KCPE candidates join Form One in the letter and spirit of the 100 per cent transition policy.
He urged stakeholders to increase investment in sub-county schools where the bulk of learners study and whose performance has been improving year after year.
The CS said the government has made deliberate efforts to make education accessible and affordable. This has been demonstrated by raising of capitation for Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) from Sh12,870 to the current Sh22,244, he said.Pupils from humble backgrounds
The initiative has ensured that thousands of learners, many from humble backgrounds, attend and complete secondary education without paying for other costs. “Since 2013, the capitation to public secondary school learners’ amounts to Sh325.67 billion for 23,832,734 pupils and another Sh1.52 billion to 34,194 Special Needs Education pupils in 768 public secondary schools,” said the CS.
Similarly, he said, the Government has over the past two years awarded 18,000 full secondary school scholarships to needy and vulnerable pupils, thousands of them from urban informal settlements, for their entire four years of secondary education.
Made many households smile
“We have put a smile to many households whose children would otherwise not have joined some of our best national secondary schools,” he said.
Magoha disclosed that the Government had spent Sh33.38 billion from 2018 to date to achieve a learner: book ratio of 1:1 in all public primary and secondary schools.
This, he said, has improved the quality of education while also reducing the burden of the cost of education on parents.
And as part of an economic stimulus programme, the Government facilitated the provision of 622,357 desks to both public primary and secondary schools worth Sh1.9 billion in 2020/2021 financial year.
Primary schools received 359,550 desks while secondary schools received 262,707 lockers and chairs. The total number of schools that benefited from the supply of desks were 5,136 for primary and 5,254 for secondary institutions.
A further Sh600 million has been set aside to ensure that this programme continues to adequately equip schools and improve the learning environment.
The minister affirmed that implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) is well on course, with the pioneer class joining Grade Six as the 2022 academic year commences today (Tuesday).
