The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) on Tuesday, February 2, announced that 17 out of the 47 counties had a mean score of 50 and above in the recently concluded tests.
The top 10 counties in the assessments are; Nairobi 59.20, Garissa 56.34, Mandera 55.11, Wajir 54.47, Mombasa 54.40, Kiambu 53.79, Kajiado 53.56, Kirinyaga 53.37, Nyeri 53.33 and Makueni 53.29.
The bottom 7 counties included; Nyandarua 46.85, Kwale 46.38, West Pokot 46.13, Trans-Nzoia 45.95, Bungoma 45.69, Samburu 44.51, Tana River 44.37 and Turkana 44.34.
Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) house along Dennis Pritt Road in Nairobi
Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) house along Dennis Pritt Road in Nairobi.TWITTER
“A majority of the low performing counties are in ASAL regions,” reads the report.
The tests were meant to gauge the students’ exam preparedness following the nine-month Covid-19 break.
KNEC has since raised alarm following the failure of KCPE students who are expected to seat their national examination in a month’s time. The examination body indicated that a majority of class 8 learners had performed below average.
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“This is evidenced by the substantial proportion of learners who did not attain the minimum benchmark of 50 percent in most of the subject assessed,” reads the report.
In terms of gender, girls outperformed the boys in languages scoring an average of 48.965 percent against 46.08. However, boys outperformed girls in sciences and mathematics.
The report found that students performed poorly in languages hence concluded that the learners did not have the essential understanding skills.
“Of concern are the substantial percentages of pupils not attaining minimum proficiency levels of language skills, yet research has shown that proficiency in reading/language has a bearing on the acquisition of other educational outcomes.”
Students performed poorly in essay based quizzes as opposed to multiple-choice questions.
The report was backed up by education officials who conducted the assessment. They noted a sharp drop in the languages which in previous reports have recorded a high performance
