Pupil population ‘no longer a hurdle’ in exam excellence

Lavender Aringa of Mudasa Academy, Vihiga scored 405 marks in the 2021 KCPE exam. [Photo, Nathan Ochunge]

Public primary schools in Western with a high number of pupils managed to post excellent performances in national examinations.

The schools were mainly started by the District Education Boards (DEB) many years ago. They have always been ranked among top performers despite presenting many candidates for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.

The schools have managed to compete with top private schools such as Marrel Academy in Bungoma which had a mean score of 399 with only 30 candidates.

Mudasa Academy in Vihiga had a mean of 399 and Booker Academy with a mean of 375. Mumias Central Primary posted a mean score of 358 after presenting 221 candidates, while Bungoma DEB Primary with 434 candidates, recorded a mean score of 318.

At Kakamega Primary, 20 pupils scored over 400 marks and 227 registered 350 marks and above. “We shall take 247 of them to national schools, 187 to extra county schools and the rest will join county schools,” said head teacher Mr Dickson Wanyangu.

Some of their top candidates are Evans Musyimi who got 417 marks, followed by Ryan Osale and Gracia Wereta who scored 411 marks. 

Kakamega Primary has a total population of 4,150 pupils while Bungoma DEB has 3,766, where headteacher Mr Tobias Khisa said 18 candidates got over 400 marks.