Kenya's brightest pupils unveiled

Shouts of joy rang out across the country as top students celebrated success with release of the primary school examination results on Tuesday.

But for each shout marking the thrill of victory, there was a groan in the agony of defeat from those who performed poorly in an exam critical to secondary school selection and future prospects in life.

The 2009 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results confirmed the trend of recent years when private school candidates have steadily performed better than those in public schools.

What this means is that the students whose parents are able to meet extra cost of private school education will have a clear edge in the competition for admission to the top ranking public secondary schools come Form One selections in the coming weeks and admission early next year.

But the results also showed a shock drop in performance among the candidates ranked tops countrywide compared to the past five years.

The best candidate, Peter Kamenju Njoroge of Lily Academy in Thika, scored 438 marks, 22 fewer than last year’s candidate.

The maximum marks a candidate can score are 500.

The 2008 top candidate, Monica Wairimu Mitinda of High Gate Academy, Mombasa scored 460 marks in the exams, whose performance was considered poor following the effects of the deadly post-election violence and school strikes.

In 2007, Michael Mutava Mulei of St Kevin’s Mombasa and Solomon Aduol of Busara Academy scored 455 marks each, still above from the reach of this year’s candidate.

In fact, this year’s top candidate would not have been ranked anywhere among the top 100 candidates last year.

The number 100 candidate in last year’s exams scored 442, meaning one with such a mark would have been ranked the best this year.

Education minister Sam Ongeri appeared undisturbed by the drop in top marks attained, instead choosing to heap praise on the overall increase in performance in most subjects.

And although boys dominated the top 10 rankings in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination (KCPE) this year, girls beat them in four of the eight subjects tested.

In the first 18 candidates, private schools took nearly all the positions.

In this year’s exams there were 12 boys among the top 10 positions, with girls taking only six.

Many of them tied in the marks attained.

The second candidate was Rabin Oonge Isaac of St George’s Grassland Academy in Nakuru North, who scored 435 marks.

He was followed by the first two girls, Risper Chemtai Kirui of Mt St Mary’s Girls, Molo and Joy Asena Imali of Hill School, Kakamega Central, who scored 434 marks.