Alarm as thousands score D and below in 2016 Form Four exams

More than half of candidates who sat for this year’s KCSE examination whose results were announced on Thursday scored D and below.

A total of 295,463 out 574,125 candidates scored D and below as compared to last year’s 256,426 out of 522,870 candidates, which means that half of the candidates cannot pursue any professional course.

These candidates cannot also join the security forces or teaching, which requires a mean grade of D+ and above.

For one to join the security forces, D+ is the minimum grade and those who want to be P1 teachers, C plain is the entry grade while for early childhood, it is D+.

This means that the candidates will now have to scramble for limited slots in vocational training institutes with another 200,000 who missed slots in Form One for artisan courses such as carpentry and masonry, among others.

Candidates who scored D were 112,135 in this year’s exams, those with D- were 149,929 while those who scored E were 33,399.

Last year, 79,555 candidates had D, those with D- were 48,658 and those who scored E grade were 5,350.

With almost half of candidates scoring below average, experts are raising concerns if indeed students are learning in schools.

Also of concern is that most of the examination questions were taken from past papers and yet it’s only 278,662 who managed to get grades that can enable them pursue professional courses.

Dr Emanuel Manyasa, the country director of Uwezo Kenya, a think-tank on education, said it is time the country looks at the issue of poor performance seriously.

Candidates sat for a minimum of seven and a maximum of nine subjects. There are a few candidates who have not been graded on account of not sitting all the minimum seven subjects.

SCORED STRAIGHT As
In the examination, only 141 candidates scored straight As as compared to last year’s 2,685.It is only 88,929 candidates who had the minimum university entry qualification of a mean C+ and above. This is 15.41 per cent compared to 32.23 per cent in 2015 with 169,492 candidates.

An analysis of the results indicate that 4,645 candidates scored an A minus compared 12,069 last year, 10,975 candidates had B+ while in 2015, 21,927 got the grade.

A total 17,977 students scored B plain compared to last year’s 33,460; 23,745 had a B- compared to 44,581 last year while 32,207 had C+ compared to 2015’s 54,770.

A total of 44,792 candidates scored C, 61,026 scored C-, 80,951 scored D+.

Speaking during the release of the examination, Kenya National examinations Council (KNEC) chairman Prof George Magoha revealed that from his experience in handling the examination scripts, students are not learning in schools.

Prof Magoha explained how he came across scripts where candidates had nothing to write even after spending four years in secondary schools.

ESSENTIAL FACILITIES

“Many schools are operating without essential and basic facilities such as laboratories and teachers. There are schools where the community interferes with the management and things cannot move,” said Dr Manyasa.

He added that the issue of insecurity was also affecting candidate’s performance.

“We also need to look at the whole issue of teachers not teaching because quality assurance officers are not there to supervise them. This means that children going to schools and coming out uneducated,” said Dr Manyasa.

A report by the Education Commission, a team made up of presidents, former prime ministers, business and education leaders, which presented to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in September this year at the start of the 71st General Assembly in the US revealed that nearly a half of primary school teachers in Kenya do not attend classes.

The report put the loss linked to absenteeism at Sh27 billion a year as 47 per cent of school teachers stay away from classes, 16 per cent of them choosing not to report to school at all.

It meant that out of about 200,000 teachers in primary schools, 32,000 of them never showed up in schools at all while 94,000 colleagues who reported to schools did not teach students.