Nairobi’s number was low compared to the 1,105 absentee candidates during the 2020 exam. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Nairobi County recorded the highest number of registered students who did not sit for 2021 Kenya Certificate Primary Education (KCPE) examination.

The county had 863 absentee candidates out of the total 11,523 students who failed to sit for the exam.

Nairobi’s number was low compared to the 1,105 absentee candidates during the 2020 exam.

Nairobi was followed by Bungoma County, which had 682 registered students who did not sit for the examination. The county had 66,024 registered candidates.

Other counties that recorded high absentee candidates were Meru (644), Turkana (589), Kakamega (583), Nakuru (561), Trans Nzoia (524) among others.

Isiolo County had the lowest number of absent candidates. Out of the total 4,053 registered KCPE candidates in the county, only 26 candidates failed to turn up for the exam.

Meanwhile, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha said some 50 public primary schools across the country recorded improved performance in the KCPE results released yesterday. Kambi Ya Waya Primary School in Coast region recorded great improvement with mean marks from 203 in 2020 to 266 in 2021.

Other schools include Njenga Karume, Ngukuine, Cheleta, Lenkishoni, Kewa DEB, Nyangiti and Mandera DEB.