Several stars of the 2023 KCPE are upbeat after they were selected to join their dream schools.
Top candidates from public and private schools said they were selected to join their first-choice institutions.
In Western, top students from academic giants Kakamega Primary, Fesbeth Academy, Bungoma DEB Primary, Daisy Centre and School-Bukura, St Peter's Boys Mumias, and St Anne's Girls-Mumias will be joining prestigious national schools in the country.
Jecinta Bethany Khasungu of St Anne's Girls Primary School-Mumias, who scored 427 marks and was second-best nationally, has been selected to join Kenya High.
"My father has been a great inspiration in shaping my life choices and even my education," said Bethany.
A total of 136 candidates at Kakamega Primary will join national schools.
Saviour Owino Ndubi and Maclawrence Masulia who scored 416 marks and 414 marks respectively have been selected to join Kapsabet Boys.
Kenya High
Praise Owano who scored 413 marks will join Kenya High while Muhdhar Omondi and Travis Bwire who scored 412 marks and 410 marks respectively will join Alliance High School. At Bungoma DEB Primary, at least 50 of their top candidates will be joining top national schools.
Lungwanyi Wekesa Xavier with 409 marks and Ezra Wamono Nyongesa with 408 marks will both join Mangu High School, Oruka Delvaryan with 407 marks will join Friends School Kamusinga while Opilo Gaitano with 403 marks has been selected to join Kabianga High School.
In Nakuru, the top pupil from a public school, Eric Kigiri, is happy to be placed in his dream school, Starehe Boys High School, after scoring 421 marks in the 2023 KCPE examinations.
Kigiri, 13, said he received the joyous news from his father who got the message on their behalf.
The boy from Moi Primary School, located in Nakuru city, excelled in his examination despite coming from a humble background.
Blessing Waceke from Radiance Academy in Nakuru County is set to join Kenya High School.
Waceke scored 420 marks and was happy to receive the news that she got placed in her first-choice school.
"I am delighted and I promise to study hard to achieve my goals in high school," she said.
In Nyanza, the top pupil Felix Omondi from the little-known Kanyaika Primary School has been selected to join Starehe Boys Centre. He scored 426 marks in KCPE.
In Migori, Hassan Yahya, 15, who topped in Migori Primary School has also been selected to join Starehe Boys Centre.
The boy who came from a poor background said the selection was also his dream school.
Meanwhile, some parents of some top-performing primary schools in Nandi County protested claiming the 2024 Form One selection did not meet the expectations of their children.
At Bishop Muge Memorial School in Nandi County, an institution that attained a mean score of 404 in KCPE, head teacher Sammy Sawe said he had received calls from parents expressing mixed feelings about the selections.
"Some parents protested saying their children were selected to institutions that did not match what they scored in the examinations. Others claimed their children who scored over 390 marks had been selected to extra-county schools," noted the headteacher.
Sawe said the school performed well in the examinations with two top candidates in a class of 117 scoring 422 marks while the lowest had 304 marks.
At Bishop Muge Memorial School, the two girls who scored 422 marks have been selected to join Pangani Girls and Kipsigis Girls.
The school also sent three boys to Alliance High School and three girls to Alliance Girls' High School. Other top schools that selected top candidates included Mangu, Kenya High, Kabianga, Friends School Kamusinga, and Maryhill Girls Thika among others. At the AIC Kosira Primary School in Nandi, 62 candidates out of a total of 66 got admission to national schools while four will be proceeding to extra-county schools.
The school's top candidate with 422 got admission to Lenana School. Others will proceed to Alliance Girls and Boys, Moi Girls' Eldoret, Mangu, Nanyuki High, Nairobi School, Butere Girls', Karima Girls', Lugulu Girls' among other prestigious national schools.
There were also mixed reactions at the Nandi Hills Primary School where some parents felt their candidates who scored over 370 were placed in extra-county schools.
[Reports by Nathan Ochunge, Anne Atieno, Titus Too, Daniel Chege and Clinton Ambujo]
