Girls dominated the top spots in this year's national secondary school examinations whose results were released yesterday.
Out of the top 20 candidates, 16 were girls and four boys, according to the results released by the CS at Shimo La Tewa High School in Mombasa County.
According to Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, girls outshone boys in eight out of the 30 subjects while boys performed better in 20 subjects.
The subjects in which the girls performed better than boys included English, Kiswahili, Mathematics Alternative B, Physics, CRE, Home Science, Art and Design and Electricity.
The results indicated that although the number of girls sitting KCSE examination has been lower than that of boys over the past seven years, the percentage increase of female candidates has been improving steadily compared to that of male candidates in the past four years.
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There was good news for all candidates who score grade C+ (plus) and above as the Education ministry assured them of university places.
"We have many universities to absorb all the 88,929 students," said Dr Matiang'i.
The number of C+ grades translated to 15.4 per cent of the students who sat the examination.
The entry of C+ in university is not strange, as the grade has always been considered the examination's pass mark before being overshadowed by higher grades over the years.
Last year, only students with B- (minus) grade and above were admitted to public universities, which means the admission cut-off has been adjusted to C+.
On how he managed to eliminate cheating in the examination and streamline the entire process, Matiang'i said his ministry engaged 74,810 professionals in the examination's administration.
"The Ministry of Education worked hand in hand with Interior and ICT ministries to ensure no irregularities were recorded during the exam period and marking as well," he said.
The CS warned teachers who do not embrace the new examination reforms that they will be sacked.
"I am not going to mince my words that my ministry will fully support Teacher Service Commission (TSC) in any decision they take against who are not ready to embrace change," he said.
Matiang'i vowed to take his war against examination irregularities a notch higher next year.
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"We are not going to condone irresponsibility by teachers where our children are involved. We will engage higher gear in 2017 to take the education sector to another level," added Matiang'i..
In releasing the examination in Mombasa instead of Nairobi, Matiang'i lived true to his unpredictable nature, which has kept many teachers on their toes trying to guess his next move.
Until Wednesday night, Joseph Mwadime, the Principal of Shimo La Tewa High School where the results were released had no idea that he would host the event.
"I was called by the Education PS on Wednesday night and he asked me to arrange for a room for about 30 people to discuss Education matters," he said.
