KCPE exam results released
Education Minister Prof Sam Ongeri announced on Tuesday several measures to control cheating in exams. Above, Prof Ongeri addresses the press shortly after he announced this year's KCPE examination results at the Kenya Institute of Education in Nairobi, December 29, 2009. Photo/PETERSON GITHAIGA
The results for the 2009 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) have been released.
Njoroge Peter Kamenju from Thika’s Lily Academy is the top student with 438 out a possible 500 marks, while Kirui Risper is the top girl and third overall with 434 marks.
A total of 727,054 pupils sat for this year’s examinations.
Announcing the results at Kenya Institute of Education grounds on Tuesday, Education Minister Prof Sam Ongeri announced a slight drop in exam irregularities from last year.
He, however, decried the presence of unethical registration processes which had lead to double registration of some students.
"Some of the parents, who have been educating their children in high cost private schools in Nairobi and other areas, register them in schools in rural districts so as to access good secondary schools under the quota system," he said.
He noted that such acts denied the rural children their rightful chances, saying it was 'irregular.'
He announced measures to avoid the problem, including the use of birth certificate numbers to monitor the movement of students from one school to another. He said this would start from next year.
Prof Ongeri said a larger percentage of exam irregularities were recorded in private schools. He said this was a worrying trend which must be address to avoid a bad picture of public-private partnerships.
In 80 centres or schools where candidates cheated, 33 (1.04 per cent) were private schools/centres out of a total of 3,168 private schools, while 47 (0.27 per cent) were public schools out of a total of 17,669 public schools.
Starting from next year, candidates who cheat in examinations will be barred from taking any KNEC examinations for a period of two years, he said.
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificates will include the candidate's photo to avoid impersonation, the Education minister added.
The 2009 KCPE results have been posted on the website www.examscouncil.or.ke.
Candidates can also get their scores through a short message service (SMS) by typing KCPE followed by their index number and sending the message to 2228.
