It was celebrations for parents, teachers and pupils of little known Lights Academy, Uriri on Monday after the release of 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Exams (KCPE).
The school comprising of orphans, ex-street kids pupils and those from disadvantaged families produced a commendable performance in its history with only one pupil scoring below the pass mark.
The school, which enrolled 21 candidates had the highest pupil scoring 401 marks against 500, it had a mean score of 328.9.
“We are happy with 2019 group for the performance, it has elevated us to one of the best schools in our area of operations,” said School founder and director Mr Jackson Bambo.
“Most of our students are from a disadvantaged background and we are happy when they compete favorable with students from across the country, we aim for more 400 marks come next year, our teachers are energized,” said Mr Bambo.
The school was founded in 2009 to feed, cloth, shelter and educate orphaned, abandoned, street children, abused and exploited girls in addition to empowering women through advocacy and training.
It is currently supporting over 530 children with 22 boys and 18 girls residing in the school.
This year’s KCPE attracted 1, 083, 456 candidates.
Over those, female candidates were 525, 070 and male candidates were 527, 294. 18 counties registered more female candidates than males.
English, Swahili, Sign language and Social Studies were the most improved subjects compared to last year’s KCPE while Mathematics and Science registered a decrease in performance.
Females performed better than their male counterparts in English, Kiswahili and Sign language while males performed better in Maths, Science and Social Studies.
The number of candidates who scored 401 marks and above in this year's KCPE is 9, 770.
Candidates who scored 301 marks and 400 were 243, 320 and those who scored 201 to 300 marks were 586, 886.
Those who scored 101 to 200 marks were 262, 307 and those who scored 0 to 100 marks 1,173.
Special needs candidates were two, 407 this year with the highest candidate in this category scoring 414 marks.
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Releasing the exam results at Mtihani house in Nairobi, Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha said all 2019 KCPE candidates will join Form One.
The placements will begin on Tuesday and candidates will know their new schools by December 2.
Magoha also reiterated that no exam papers were leaked or fake papers making rounds.