The KCPE exams started successfully across Busia County on Tuesday with revelations that more girls than boys are sitting for this year’s exams.
Sub County Quality Assurance and Standards Officer Joseph Ochieng said a total of 20,934 candidates including 10,515 girls and 10,419 boys are sitting for the exams from the County.
Ochieng said although there are more girls than boys who are sitting for the Standard eight exams, the number of girls who transit to secondary school is not that large.
The SCQASO boss said security for this year’s exams has been intensified with head teachers mandated to pick exams from education offices’ armory to hand them over to supervisors at various exam centers.
At Lukonyi Boys Primary School in Matayos Sub County, 112 candidates started the exams with the Math paper. The top pupil at the school Darren Khaoya exuded the confidence of excelling in the exams.
The school head John Challoya said they were the best public school in the 2015 KCPE with a mean score of 341. He was optimistic of hitting 350 marks this year.
“We have faced many challenges this year. The number of candidates has risen by 59. We also had two candidates who resurfaced today for the exams since the first term. They were doing boda boda business instead of being in class. I blame parents for failing to control their children to an extent that they allow them to roam around instead of being in school,” he said.
Lukonyi Boys produced the second best boy pupil in 2015 KCPE exams in Clinton Okoth who secured a berth at Alliance High School. Eight boys from the school joined national schools.
Challoya was impressed with the tough rules introduced by Education Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i to curb exam cheats. “Let the candidates get what belongs to them and not induced results,” he said.
