The results of the 2023 National Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) saw a total of 1,406,557 candidates sit for the exams with the highest candidate scoring 428 marks.
Announcing the results, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu said even though a total of 9354 candidates did not sit for the exams, the ministry has conducted a thorough mapping to give them an opportunity to sit for the exams in January 2024.
“We want all of them to sit for the exams in January so that they can be able to join secondary school with the rest,” said Machogu.
He said the government is set to accommodate all candidates in secondary school and urged parents to enroll their children in form one next year.
The CS who was announcing the 2023 KCPE results at the Kenya National Examinations Council Mitihani House in Nairobi on Thursday said the males who sat for the examinations were 721,544 while the number of females was 685,017.
He said 8,523 candidates attained a score of 400 marks and above, terming it a drop compared to 2022 which saw at least 9,443 candidates score 400 marks and above.
“The percentage of candidates scoring between 300 and 399 was comparable to last year with a percentage score of 24.94 percent (307,756) in 2022 and 24.92 percent (352,782) in 2023,” said the CS.
Those with 200 to 299 were 658,278 46, with 100 to 199 were 383,025 and 001 to 099 were 2,060 candidates all totaling 1,406,557 which is 99.34 percent.
Machogu disclosed that a total of 205 candidates who were not registered were allowed to sit the 2023 KCPE examination out of which 125 were male while 80 were female candidates.
He said that even though the KCPE examination was affected by heavy rains that caused floods in various parts of the country, the government ensured that all candidates sat for the exams.
He singled out 10 counties that had more female than male candidates as Mandera with (62.77 percent male: 37.23 percent female), Garissa (61.47 percent :38.53 percent) Turkana (57.00 percent:43.00 percent), Wajir (56.91 percent:43.09 percent), Machakos (52.79 percent :47.21 percent), Nyamira (52.40 percent:47.60 percent), Samburu (52.39 percent:47.61 percent) Baringo (52.13 percent:47.87 percent), Nandi (52.05 percent:47.95 percent), and Makueni (52.03 percent:47.97 percent). Isiolo County had recorded a significant entry of more male than female candidates with 48.25 percent male and 51.75 percent female.
The counties that had the highest percentages of candidates who were 12 years and below in the year 2023 KCPE Examination were Baringo (7.30 percent), Wajir (6.37 percent), Bomet (5.99 percent), Kericho (5.82 percent) and West Pokot (5.57 percent).
The highest number of candidates in the age bracket of 13-15 years was 1,023,859 a trend the CS noted has been observed over the last five years.
Counties that had the highest percentages of candidates who were 18 years and above were Garissa (25.86 percent), Turkana (24.50 percent), Kwale (16.09 percent), Kilifi(15.66 percent) and Mandera (33.90 percent).
He at the same time announced that the English Language and Kenyan Sign Language composition recorded an improvement in performance in the year 2023 compared to the year 2022.
Machogu said the performance of male and female candidates was comparable in social studies and religious education, however, female candidates performed slightly better than their male counterparts in English, Kiswahili, and Kenyan Sign Language.
“Male candidates performed slightly better than their female counterparts in Mathematics and Science,” he added.
Machogu commended the candidates and all officials for ensuring that the integrity and credibility of the 2023 KCPE Examination remained high, noting that only two candidates out of the total of 1,406,557 were involved in examination malpractices during the examination.
“One of the candidates was found with unauthorized notes in the examination room while the other candidate was found with a mobile phone in the examination room,” he stated.
Regarding the Form One placement, the CS assured that the ministry will offer opportunities to all the candidates who sat the 2023 KCPE Examination in public and private secondary schools in a fair and transparent manner, an exercise that will commence on Monday 27 next week for a period of two weeks.
“We have developed a fair and transparent system for Form One placement that will ensure national, regional, and socio-economic balance is achieved,” he said, adding that the two weeks’ period will allow parents and guardians adequate time to prepare their children to join Form One in 2024.
“I urge parents, guardians, and all stakeholders to ensure that all our learners transit to secondary school level so as to complete their basic education, which is critical to their survival and also beneficial for the country’s development and growth,” he added.
The CS told the candidates to collect their results from their respective examination centers, adding that Individual candidate results can also be accessed by sending a candidate’s index number followed by the initials “KCPE” through a Short Message Service (SMS) to 40054.
In his remarks, the Education Principal Secretary Dr. Belio Kipsang said all the 2023 KCPE examiners marking the exams have all been paid and assured that those marking Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education will also be paid within the stipulated time.
He said the ministry is also working with the National Treasury to FastTrack the pay of capitation to schools to for them to run smoothly when schools reopen next year.
By Bernadette Khaduli
