THE dismal performance by students coupled with exam cancellations of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in the North Eastern Province needs to be addressed urgently by all stakeholders. This comes as Northern Kenya MPs have called for a fresh audit into the exam irregularities that led to the cancellation the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) tests in the area.
The call was made by North Eastern Provincial Director of Education Pascal Makite when he addressed the press. He said the poor performance was a source of worry.
The province manged to post only three girls in the top ten list of 100 in last year's KCSE. The leading girl was Raha Abdi Salah of Northeastern Province Girls' High School who took position 24 with 67 points. “A big number of our district girls' schools like Iftin Girls, Khalif Secondary and Bute Girls performed poorly. Some explanation has to be given by those responsible why the schools could not even produce a C+,” said Makite.
He said some teachers were not serious in the delivery of the curriculum. Such teachers, he said, would not be tolerated. He said girls are still disadvantaged in many aspects compared to boys. Makite said cheating in the province had dropped drastically from 101 in 2009 exams to 33 last year.
Meanwhile, angry parents from Bura East Secondary School in Fafi District threatened to burn the school unless the poor exam results improved. Out of the 44 students who sat the exam last year, only one scored a C plain with others scoring D+ and below. The school's Parents Teachers Association chairman Moamed Yussuf, said they would rather stay without a school than to watch their children fail so miserably.
