Giant Ukambani schools miss
out in 2022 KCSE top league
By Gastone Valusi in Machakos
Though there is a general feeling that schools in Lower Eastern performed well in the 2022 KCSE exams, an analysis of the listing shows that schools from the region rank poorly compared to schools in other parts of the country.
From a casual scanning of results, it is possible that Mangu High School alone produced more A plain(81) grade than all schools combined in Lower Eastern.
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| Dr. Kituku |
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| Mr Katuku |
It is curious that while the region's top performing school- Matinyani Boys scored a mean grade of 9,94 and will send the entire 2022 cohort of students to the universities, it still lagged behind other schools that posted the mean score beyond 10 points.
Questions are being raised as to how the top schools from Lower Eastern- Machakos School, Makueni School, Kitui School, St Charles Lwanga and others in that league, though they will send good numbers to the universities, are missing from the list of top performers.
It is also noted that more Girl schools than boys schools in the region performed well in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education. Out of 20 schools with a mean score of 7 points and above 10 were girl schools while the boys schools were 6 with 4 being mixed schools. Notable performers include AIC Sombe Girls under leadership of Mrs Anne Mutinda. It shot to the third best school in Kitui County, beating a national School- Muthale Girls.
Schools in Kitui County seemed to top the region followed by schools in Makueni with Machakos County coming third in that order. In the list of 20 top schools in the region,only three are in Machakos County and their mean scores are way below their equivalents in other regions. ( See list herein)
1. Matinyani Boys 9.94, 2.Kitui School 9.31, 3.Kathiani Girls 9.11, 4.Mbooni Girls 8.91,
5.AIC Sombe Girls 8.54, 6.Makueni Boys 8.39, 7. St Charles Lwanga 8.11, 8.Machakos School 8.00,
9.Kisasi Boys 7.96, 10.Precious Blood Kilungu 7.92, 11.Kyangondu Mixed 7.90,
12.Caring Hearts 7.76, 13.St Joseph Kibwezi 7.48,14. Misyani Girls 7.48, 15.Mwaani Girls 7.20,
16.Kavingoni Secondary,7.18, 17.Kisau Girls 7.16, 18. Machakos Girls 7.14, 19. Makueni Girls 7.10,
20. Kaumoni Boys 7.06
Speaking to The Anchor in an interview today, Former Machakos County Health Executive Dr Ancent Kituku said the dismal performance in Machakos County could be attributed to lack of unity between leaders in addressing matters to do with education.
Dr Kituku, said professionals in other regions have joined the Board of Management of various schools and are usually at hand to offer advice whenever the schools in the region do not perform well.
"The leadership in our region both political and religious does not seem to care much about education. They have left it to the Ministry to education and do not hold meetings to review the performance of our schools,"said Dr Kituku. He says the community needs to motivate teachers and pool resources to upgrade school infrastructure such as labs and libraries in order to boost performance in the region.
Some former academic giants in the region like Kitui School,Mbooni Girls and St Charles Lwanga bounced back to the limelight while some small schools also made their mark in the list of top performing schools.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Training (Kuppet) Executive Secretary Mr Musembi Katuku attributed the trend to hard work by teachers and students in the schools. "Some small schools are putting a lot of effort and that's why they have good results but we are not condemning the big schools. They have done their part," he said.
