Private schools Light Academy, Nyali Primary and Sheikh Zayed topped in this year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in the Coast region. Public schools also posted good results.
By the time of going to press, results compiled by The Standard showed that the top student from Coast was Kilonzi Douglas Kioko from Nyali Primary. He scored 422 marks.
Mkasi Chimwaga, from Our Lady of Angels in Mariakani, Kilifi County, scored 421 marks while Aisha Athuman, from Ganjoni Primary, a public school in Mombasa, had 417 marks. Cindy Esther Safari from Mudzini Primary School had 420 marks.
"The number of candidates who scored up to 400 marks dropped to six from the 15 we had last year. This was due to frequent disruptions of the academic calendar," said Ganjoni Deputy Head Teacher Sister Nzvela Nthike.
In Ganjoni, other candidates who scored over 400 marks were Triumph Mumo (411), Hindu Fauzya (409), and Trevor Kwenya and Lynne Mnyazi who tied at 402 and Asmahani Abdulhamid, who scored 400 marks.
Out of 106 candidates who sat for the exams at Nyali Primary, 19 scored over 400 marks.
"It was a tough year but we thank parents for their support which enabled us to achieve good results," said Nyali head Teacher Omar Babu.
Light Academy in Mombasa posted a mean score of 394, beating Nyali Primary which had 363.66 and Sheikh Zayed (335.76). Thirteen out of 33 candidates in Light Academy had 400 marks and above.
"Mariam Nashami and Ben Chrispine were our top candidates with 412 marks," said Light Academy Deputy Head Teacher Nihat Arslan.
Arslan said despite disruptions created by the breaks in the school calendar, the teachers were able to track the performance of the students resulting in their good performance.
"We put in extra work because of the short terms. We are happy that long hours and hard work paid off because all our candidates scored 360 marks and above," said Arslan.
At Abuhureira Academy within Mombasa Island, Munir Abdirahim led with 414 marks. Ibrahim Mohammed was second with 407 marks.
At the Leads School Majaoni in Mombasa, there were also celebrations after their top candidate Dalvin Zablon scored 400 marks.
"This was a great performance compared to last year," said the school's director Winnie Nyabuto.
In Kilifi, Lucky Charo Masha from Mtwapa Elite Academy scored 413 marks, according to the results compiled by the time of going to press.
Pupils from Hepida Junior School in the sprawling slums of Magongo in Changamwe, Mombasa took to the streets to celebrate their performance.
"We had six months to cover the 2022 Class Eight syllabus. We thank God for the good performance," said the school's head teacher, Robert Oduor.
Faith Jeruto, from High Gate Academy, was the top candidate in the school with 407 marks while Collins Kipkore was second with 401 marks.
School head teacher Samuel Sipeti commended the learners for their great work despite the disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
[Reports by Ishaq Jumbe, Ernest Ndunda and Willis Oketch]