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For KCSE giants, no room to
Falter in national exams
In the battle for rank and pride that
is Kenya's education sector, the
slightest mistake can cause one
sleepless nights. Ranking, though
now questioned by scholars, tends
to pile pressure on teachers and
students, who know all too well that
the eyes of the nation will be trained
on them. Here, we speak to four
secondary school heads on what
happened in their 'academic giants'
and whether they have really fallen
BY NJOKI CHEGE
When MPs this month
to the Kenya National Examinations
summoned Education
Council.
Cabinet secretary Jacob
Kaimenyi to explain
"During the exams, our girls
discovered that four girls among
them had mobile phones. The four
why Maranda High School was not
ranked in last year's Kenya Certificate had recruited three others and
of Secondary Education examination together they received Biology Paper
results, they sent a message that One through their phones. As the
education in this country is not just school administration, we took it upon
about books and grades, but also a ourselves to report the matter to Knee
and the seven girls' exam results were
battle for rankings, a war for pride.
That battle for pride had been cancelled," says Mrs Nyambong'i.
As a result, the school's mean
fought on the floor of Parliament
itself, with Budalang'i MP Ababu score and national ranking dropped
Namwamba insisting that this is "not drastically to number 43 nationally
a small matter" and that the country because Knee calculated it against
is "dealing with the reputation and the 282 students registered instead
of the 275 results that excluded the
integrity of a national school".
But Maranda is not alone in this
quagmire. When Kaimenyi stood
behind a forest of microphones on a
warm Monday momfeg at the start
of this month, the results he read to
the nation shocked many as some of
the country's biggest academic giants
were nowhere near the top. While the
usual suspects such as Alliance High
School, Precious Blood Riruta, and
Strathmore School maintained their
positions, giants such as Starehe Boys',
Pangani Girls, Mangu High School,
Maranda Boys, and Bahati Girls were
conspicuously missing from the list
of the top 10.
So, what happened to these revered
schools? Why the sudden drop? Did
anything go amiss? DNZ went knocking
on doors, and the first place we landed
was Pangani Girls, where the principal,
Mrs Pacifica Nyambong'i, told us that
the school chose to do the right and
honourable thing, the consequences
notwithstanding; when they found girls
cheating, the school reported them
you give your child a mobile phone?"
says Mrs Nyambong'i.
Although the number of As and A­
dropped from last year's performance,
Pangani Girls is happy with the results
posted in last year's KCSE. "We are not
so much bothered about ranks. I mean,
last year's exams were everywhere.
If we wanted to be at the top, we
would have bought the exams for our
students, but in this school, we stress
honesty and Knee was very happy with
us for reporting irregularities and even
went ahead to rank us because we were
honest," she says.
According to Knee chief executive
Paul Wasanga, examination
centres where head teachers report
seven girls involved in examination irregularities and where less than 10
candidates are involved in irregularities
cheating
"The seven girls found cheating were are ranked. That was the case for
isolated from the rest and they sat their Pangani, which had a total of 15 plain
exams from home, but their results
were not among the ones we received.
_s, 78 A­, 98 B+, and two C­.
Friends School Kamusinga in
We received only 275 results, yet our
mean was based on 282 results," says
Mrs Nyambong'i.
The right thing
While the school's administration
received a lot of flak for reporting their
own students to the examining body
over exam irregularities, the principal
remains firm that she did the right
tiling in spite of the fact that it affected
the school's overall performance.
"Of course we received a lot of
criticism and we were asked 'how can
you betray your own?' But we are very
happy with ourselves. Oiff consciences
are clear... our parents understand that
the group of seven girls did not take
instructions. What do you expect when
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Bungoma County is yet another giant
this year is really disappointing,
'hat has been missing from the top 10
knowing the kind of challenges we
ist. The principal, Edwin Namachanja,
jlames the poor performance on
'depressant subjects" that lowered
went through preparing the students.
Our mean grade has more or less
the school's mean score,
"We have seen that the bulk of our
the results are fairly within our scope of
performance for the past 10 years."
results fall in the A­ and B+ category.
We have not managed to balance all
the core subjects and we have noticed
that there is always a depressant sore
subject that lowers our mean. In last
gear's exams, the depressant subject
_vas English as we had only 11 As and
13 A­," says Mr Namachanja.
In 2012's KCSE, the school
_vas ranked number 45 nationally
and number 34 in last year's
KCSE. Although there is a marked
remained at 10.4 or thereabouts, so
Starehe had registered a total of
210 students but 208 sat the Form
Four exam. Out of these, 43 scored A
plain, 74 A­, 45 B+, and 24 B plain. The
school, a shining star for many years,
dropped from having 24 students in
the top 100 nationally to only one
last year. As a result of these scores,
which some people have said are not
catastrophic, the principal, Paul Mugo,
was sent on forced leave by Starehe's
managing committee. However, he was
reinstated by the Teacher's Service
Commission <TSC> a day later.
TSC explained that the school's
mprovement in the mean score
Tom 2,012's 9.5 to last year's 9.9, the
principal believes that the school can
3o better in this year's exams.
management committee had no
"The number of As did not turn out
mandate under the law to send a head
to be as many as we would like, but teacher or any other teacher employed
we are doing fine. If you look at the
consistency of our results and our
university placement, you will realise
that we are doing quite well. This year
we are sending 240 out of 284 students
to the university, and those are direct
by the commission on compulsory
leave "for whatever reasons".
Mr Gabriel Lengoiboni, the TSC
chief, said the school could not,
therefore, take unilateral decisions
without involving stakeholders such
as the employer and the Ministry of
On the other hand, Starehe Boys' Education, Science and Technology.
As the controversy raged at Starehe,
Centre blames their performance,
entries," he says.
which saw them ranked number 17
nationally, on the teachers' strike.
The school's director, Matthew
Kithyaka, says the class of 2013 had
been subjected to interruptions due
to the teachers' strike in their third
and fourth years of study. It is for
this reason that the students were not
another simmered 200 kilometres
away at Bahati Girls, a once­upon­
a­time academic giant that seems
to have faltered. In last year's KCSE,
Bahati was ranked at number 54
nationally, with a mean score of 9.76.
The previous year <20i2), the school
was ranked at number 44 nationally,
adequately prepared for their national with a mean of 9,6.
Principal Hilda Muriuki blames the
examinations and consequently posted
poor results.
average performance on indiscipline,
"Well, it is very difficult to give which crept into the school a little
reasons why we are not among the over two years ago. "Last year's class
top 10 because, first, it is not easy to was not very good," she says. "We had
understand the ranking and, second, at several challenges and discipline went
Starehe we are not so much concerned down. Last year's students were so
about the general perception given indiscipiined that some of them even
as a result of the ranking, but about disappeared from school. We have girls
the individual performance of the
students," says Mr Kithyaka, adding
that, in the past 10 years, almost 99
per cent of their students got direct
admission to university,
"I will not say that our performance
from all walks of life and some were
not used to the straight­and­narrow
way of doing things here."
The principal particularly points
out the class of 2012, which she says
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was marred with even more cases of
through hard work, unlike some of
indiscipline compared to last year's us who are using shortcuts. We are
class. "In the 2012 class, there was
more focused on mean improvement,"
a kind of revolt against the school's
management. The sister in charge then
really struggled with them. In fact, the
says Mrs Muriuki.
Farther away in Maranda, whose
meteoric rise to fame sent waves
2012 class ganged up with the parents across the country, things were getting
against the school management out of hand. The school was not only
and that drove the in­charge — Sr missing from the list of the top 10,
it was also axed from the ranking
Magdalene — to a sick bed."
While there was a slight system because of examination
improvement in the mean grade, there irregularities. Knee explained that 23
was a significant drop in the overall students had cheated. Principal Boaz
ranking. The fact that the school has Owino agrees.
"From the documents I signed, I
been missing from the top to list for
did not see where they had allegedly
several years raises eyebrows,
"We cannot call it a drop because accused the school of irregularities, but
we are more interested in the mean there are different levels, such as the
score. We are earning our grades marking and they also carry out their
own research. So I think Knee would
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be in a better position to say exactly
what happened," says Mr Owino.
In spite of the controversy
surrounding the school's ranking,
Maranda managed to produce the
second best student nationally. The
principal is also happy that 136
candidates got A plain, 153 scored A­,
two got C+.
And so the battle for rank and
pride continues. Students know that
the cameras will be focused on them
soon, while their teachers dread a
single­digit drop in average scores.
It is a war, they know, and the victors
will soon be all over the news again.
and 76 obtained B+, Twenty­eight And again. And again...
managed B plain, five scored B­, and
Is it time we rethought ranking system?
SUNDAY NATION COLUMNIST
KUNGAIKIHANYA says something
Is not right with the way students
are ranked in Kenya. In a piece that
was published on March 9 this year,
Council should come up with
another method of comparing
schools in terms of teaching
performance. A long time ago
at the top get there because they
teach well or because they get the
best students?" Here, his views:
"Imagine giving 100 pupils an
exam and putting the top 20 In
(In the 1990s, I think), Daniel
G achukla, the founder and
Chairman of the Riara Group
of Schools, proposed a ranking
method that could capture this
Information. He compared the
entry marks of pupils at Form One
one class and the bottom 20 in
another. Now teach them for four
(KCPE) to their exit scores at Form
Four (KCSE).
Mr Kihanya asks: "Do the schools
years using similar teachers and
"He found that on average, pupils
set them another exam. Which
in national schools scored lower
KCSE marks than KCPE white the
class do you think will do better?
The one with the top 20 pupils, of
course, isnt this the same thing
that we are seeing with the ranking
of secondary schools? We need to
think of a new method of ranking
schools, the performance index
alone is not enough.
"The Kenya National Examinations
opposite was true in provincial and
district schools. He concluded that
district schools are doing better
than the national and provincial
ones even though they hardly ever
made it Into the top 100 list, f think
Mr Gachukla's Idea is worth serious
consideration."
Students at
Starehe Boys'
Centre in this
file photo.
"Imagine giving
100 pupils
an exam and
putting the top
20 in one class
and the bottom
20 in another,"
probes
Sunday Nation
columnist
Mungai Kihanya
"Now teach
them for four
years using
similar teachers
and set them
another exam.
Which class do
you think will d<
better?"
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We have
seen that
the bulk of
our results
fall in the
A­ and B+
category.
We have not
managed
to balance
all the core
subjects
and we have
noticed
that there
is always a
depressant
sore subject
that lowers
our mean.
In last year's
exams, the
depressant
subject was
English as
we had only
11 As and 23
A­.
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MARANDA HIGH SCHOOL
Cheating: Knee says 23 students
cheated in the Computer Studies
paper and were, thus, not ranked.
Because that is a high number of
"cheaters", Knee says it could not
rank the school as well. Maranda
managed to produce the second
best student nationally and
the principal is happy that 136
candidates got A, 153 scored A­,
and 76 obtained B+, Twenty­eight
managed B. five scored B­, and two
got C+.
PANGANI GIRLS'
Cheating: Principal says she found
out that four girts had mobile
phones during the examination
and that they had recruited three
others to get the Biology Paper
On. exam in advance. She reported
the matter to Knee and the seven
girts' exam results were cancelled.
As a result, the school's mean score
dropped, placing it at number 43
nationally, because Knee calculated
the school's mean against the 282
students registered instead of the
275 results that excluded the seven
girls with involved in exam cheating.
STAREHE BOYS'CENTRE
Inadequate preparations: Director
Matthew Kithyaka blames the
school's declined performance,
which saw it ranked number 17
nationally, to the national teachers'
strike. The class of 2013 was
subjected to interruptions due to
the strike in their third and fourth
years of study, says the director, and
it is for this reason that the students
were not adequately prepared
for their national exams and
consequently posted lower­than­
expected results.
BAHATI GIRLS
Indiscipline: Principal Hilda Muriuki
blames the average performance
on indiscipline, which crept into
the school a little over two years
ago. "Last year's class was not very
good," she says. "We had several
challenges and the discipline went
down. Last year's students were
so indiscipiined that some of them
even disappeared from school. We
have girls from all walks of life and
some were not used to the straight­
and­narrow way of doing things
here."
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Above: Maranda High School, which was not ranked this year over exam irregularities, still produced the second best
student nationally. The school has seen better times, as evidenced by the smiles of Principal Boaz Owino and his students
in this 2012 photo. Below: Last year's KCSE top student Tom Wander! King'ori from Alliance High School gave his former
colleagues yet another reason to celebrate.
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