Friends School Kamusinga, Butere Girls and Bunyore Girls claimed top positions in western region in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results released Friday.
At least 11 out of 477 candidates at Kamusinga scored plain As while 91 managed A- (minus), 120 got B-plus, 126 others obtained B-plain, 69 got B-(minus) and 40 had C+ (plus).
The academic powerhouse in Bungoma County posted an impressive mean score of 9.2473, a slight drop from 9.6221 recorded in 2021.
Top candidates who put Kamusinga on the chart are Obuyu Justine who got 84 points followed by Victor Makero and Kanga Kwiche and Kipsgoi Collins who scooped 83 points each and Levi Walame who got 82 points.
Butere Girls pulled a surprise after posting 16-plain As and 56 A- (minus). At least 97 candidates from the school got B+ (plus), 104 managed B-plain and 90 obtained B-. Sixty more got C+ (plus).
The sterling results guaranteed the only girls national school in Kakamega a mean score of 8.727 with a percentage pass of 89.43 per cent. In 2021, the school had 8.304.
Butere Girls attributed its success to mentorship programmes, some of which were supported by the First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto.
"We started a pilot mentorship project that targeted talking to the girls to perform well in subjects that they were weak in and encouraged the strong candidates to work alongside their weak peers," said the school's director of studies Vincent Musie.
Mentorship programme
"The education mentorship programmes even saw the old girls, including our First Lady Rachael Ruto, getting involved," he said.
The school's deputy principal in charge of discipline Paula Anyiso characterised this year's class as a relatively disciplined lot, a thing that largely contributed to the good results.
Some 423 out of 473 candidates got Grade C+(plus) and above which translates to an 89 per cent entry to university.
St Mary's Kibabii Boys High School from Bungoma bounced back in style after posting 8.9302 mean score, beating other giants like Kakamega, Musingu, Butula Boys, among others.
Lugulu Girls posted 8.655 mean score, with two candidates scoring plain A and 26 A minus; 98 candidates got B plus, 157 had plain B, 120 B-s and 71 managed C+.
Bunyore Girls, one of the top performing schools in the region, posted a mean score of 8.61.
It emerged tops in Vihiga County to prove its worth as the only national girls school in the area. Rosemary Oyundi topped at the school with a mean score of A plain of 83 points.
The school had six candidates with A-plain and 39 scored a mean of A-. Bunyore will send 361 candidates to the university after they attained Grade C+ and above.
Cosmas Nabongolo, the principal of St Peter's Mumias Boys, said he had the best class in 2022, with at least one straight A.
"I prepared my candidates well when I came in and we are happy with the results," said Mr Nabolongo.
The school in Mumias West registered 423 students and posted a mean score of 8.62 that saw it beat many other big schools across the region.
"We are doing 8.1 mean score with the preliminary results. We were at 7.7 mean grade last year but we hope to do better than last year," said the school's deputy principal Joel Mukoche.
Kakamega High School, with an entry of 489 candidates, posted six straight As and 69 B plus to finish among top performers from the region.
Its top candidates were Meshack Omondi who got 84 points, Ochieng' Frankline and Caleb Wanjala who each scooped 82 points as well as Jakait Markbright and Namuteche Eugene and Ong'ayo Abdul who managed 81 points each.
Gerald Orina, the Principal of Kakamega High School, said his school posted a mean grade of 8.2.
The school had registered 489 candidates and recorded a positive deviation of 0.028.
John Mark Wandera of Booker Academy said they had improved to get a mean score of 7.8 from 7.0 in the previous year.
"We had 131 up and above the 119 we had on the last exam. One student got an A, eight A -(minus), 15 B+ (plus), 23 B (plain), 21 B-(minus), 30 C+(plus) among other grades," he said. "We will be taking 75 per cent of our students to university."
Mudavadi Girls Madzuu in Vihiga posted 5.63 with 64 candidates who registered in the school securing direct university entry grade.
William Simiyu from Mudasa Academy had a mean of A- of 78 points, followed closely by Purity Muhonja who scored A- of 75 points.
At Chavakali High School, the top candidate, Micah Asakhulu, got plan A of 82 followed by Odiwuor Billy Onyango who scored the same points. The school posted a mean score of 7.91.
The school's deputy principal, Benedict Khayati, said: "We have a sizeable number of candidates who will be joining university."
At Mbale High School, the school principal Peter Omutiti, said they had not finished tabulating the results.
Top three candidates at the school, which had 346 candidates, were Nickson Vusaka who got A- (76), Otieno James who obtained A- (74) and Peter Amunabi who got A- (74).
"We are still compiling the results and we are hopeful we will post very impressive results," said Omutiti.
[John Shilitsa, Robert Amalemba and Brian Kisanji]