School that faced arson attack records low KCSE results
Itierio Boys High School students report back to school on August 28, 2016 after the school reopened following a fire that gutted seven dormitories. The school performed poorly in the 2016 KCSE. PHOTO | BENSON MOMANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Itierio Boys High School had a mean score of 4.8, one of the lowest in the county, in 2016 compared with last year's 7.3.
- No student scored an A-minus and above, with only two managing to get a B+, five B-plain, nine B-minus, 15 C-plus, 23 C, 35 C-minus, 57 D-plus and 24 D-minus.
A secondary school in Kisii where several dormitories were burnt last year reported a significant drop in its Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam performance.
Itierio Boys High School had a mean score of 4.8, one of the lowest in the county, in 2016 compared with last year's 7.3.
No student scored an A-minus and above, with only two managing to get a B+, five B-plain, nine B-minus, 15 C-plus, 23 C, 35 C-minus, 57 D-plus and 24 D-minus.
Principal Isaac Ogol attributed the poor performance to the arson attack and the subsequent closure of the school, which hurt learning and revision.
“The school performed poorly due to the challenges that we faced in the course of the year, mainly as a result of the fire,” the principal told the Nation on Friday after receiving the results announced by Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i at Shimo La Tewa High School in Mombasa on December 29.
Seven of 11 dormitories were gutted in June and more than 800 students spent the night in the cold.
Arson attacks also happened at schools in other parts of the country.
He said the students who were expelled after the fires, and only reported back to school on exam days, recorded the lowest marks.
HOPE NOT LOST
However, Mr Ogol said he was content with the results, promising to right the wrongs this year.
“You can be sure we will perform better this year. I can promise that. We have made several changes in the institution to ensure [a] better learning environment, including improving the school’s infrastructure,” he said.
Itierio is preparing to fully implement the recommendations of a report focusing on the cause of the fires.
One of the recommendations is a change of the principal and his deputy.
Another school that also experienced devastating fire was Nyamache Boys High School in Kisii County.
It recorded a mean score of 6.04, down from 9.21 in 2015.
The poor 2016 KCSE performance was not unique to the two schools.
The results were appalling nationwide, with only 141 students of 577,253 scoring a mean grade of A-plain.
The drop in performance has been attributed to changes in the way exams are set, administered and assessed, which prevented the widespread cheating seen in previous years.
