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Marks for the Best Candidates Were the Lowest in Five Years
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 03 July 2007 07:20
This year's top mark of 453 - attained by Wamugi David Wanjuki of Nairobi - was the least in five years. Last year, Oduol Fredrick Constant attained 461 marks, 12 more than this year's top candidate.In 2004, the best candidate, Nyaosi Bugei Omete, had 472 marks, while in the previous year, Calvin Nyakundi Marita scored 482, the highest so far.
In terms of regions, the results showed efforts to balance quality of learning in all regions have yet to bear fruit. For instance, the best candidate from North Eastern Province, Hassan Fahad Adam, who scored 420 marks, was not ranked among the top 100 candidates countrywide.
The 100th candidate from North Eastern Province, Abdirizak Hussein, scored 362 marks out of a possible 500.That means, were it not for the quota system, such candidate would not qualify for admission even to a provincial school.And although Education minister George Saitoti announced that performance in all the subjects had improved, statistics indicate the performance had stalled in Kiswahili, a crucial language.
Last year, the mean score in the subject was 52.8 per cent, the same mark maintained this year.But the performance got better in all the other subjects, including mathematics, English, science and social studies.
It was the first time social studies was being tested, having replaced geography, history and civics offered in the previous curriculum.The curriculum was made lighter and relevant to children.
It, for example, infused emerging issues like challenges posed by the HIV/Aids scourge and drug abuse.Prof Saitoti said he was proud over the implementation of the new curriculum, adding, the reforms meant the quality of educationLamu, Kwale and Tana River districts were ranked position 73, 75 and 76 respectively. Tana River had a mean score of 217.
Kisii districts- Central (67) Nyamira (67) and Gucha (72) - recorded a poor score, with the highest, Central, recording a mean score of 232.
