Joy for student as KCPE score adjusted upwards

It was a relief for a 2023 KCPE candidate from Shinyalu constituency, Kakamega county after the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) revised her marks from 358 to 409.

Prudence Shalimba, 13, from Ileho Village, was shocked when she received her KCPE results last week.

Prudence, a former student of Mukango Hope Academy was index one and had been expecting a good score but this was not the case when the results were released last week by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu.

"I was happy that the results were out, however, the happiness was short-lived when my father told me that I had scored 358 marks, I was so devastated because those were not my true marks," she said.

"My parents talked to me and told me they would seek redress which they did and on Sunday while I was in church, my mother came to where I was sitting and showed me the new results I had now scored 409 which made me top in my class from position three," she added.

The teenager said she was relieved after refusing to eat for two days as her parents sought a review of the score.

"I have never scored below 80 in Kiswahili and 400 marks overall and definitely I knew there was a problem, and the second results were my real grades. I hope to join Kenya High and become a surgeon in the future," said Prudence.

Prudence's mother Gladys Shalimba said she had initially been awarded 358 marks which they disputed considering that their child had never scored below 400 marks in her previous tests.

"When we sent a text inquiring about the results, we were shocked to receive 358 marks with 36 marks in Kiswahili, we suspected something was wrong. My daughter could not score poorly in Kiswahili which is her favorite subject," said Ms Shalimba.

The mother of three said the family resorted to seeking a review of the score and on Friday they wrote to Knec stating that the results were not the true reflection of what the candidate had been scoring.

"My daughter was depressed over the poor results, we are urging Knec and the Ministry of Education to be keen when releasing the results to avoid confusion among parents and students," said Shalimba.

The family had planned a celebration after the release of results but cancelled when Prudence received the low marks.

"We cancelled our planned celebrations because we had not expected to receive such results but now with these higher marks we are planning for a celebration to appreciate our God," said Shalimba.

Japheth Aliata, Director of the Mukango Hope Academy urged the Ministry of Education and Knec to take time and go through the results before releasing them.

"I do not see the need to hurry and release the results when we have a lot of time, let those responsible be keen, and proofread the results before they release them because this has painted a bad picture of Knec," said Aliata.

"The confusion has caused distress among many students who have been affected and moving forward the government should take exam matters concerning the life of students very seriously to avoid unnecessary litigation because we had planned to raise Sh6,000 for remarking and if the results were to turn out differently then litigation would be our last resort," he added.