KCSE Results

KCSE Results

Form IV students (seniors) take an exam called the Kenya Comprehensive Secondary Exam in November at the end of their secondary education. Students are tested in each of the eight subjects they have taken. Each subject has three exams, so it takes three weeks to take the exams with two exams per day. This exam is much more important than the ACT or SAT. Students who score a B mean grade are admitted to university. Their score also determines what their major will be once they get to university.

Trained teachers spend the month of December marking the exams at a central location. During the months of January and February results are sent to the universities for admission, and there is an analysis of results to rank and evaluate secondary schools. Parents want their children to go to schools with the best scores possible. The more successful the school, the more likely it will be that their child will be able to attend university. Results of the KCSE are then released to the public in late February.

Wednesday was the big day. As this was John and my second time to experience this announcement, we were a little better prepared to understand and appreciate the significance.

At 10:00 on national television the Permanent Secretary of Education began his speech. It was broadcast live. I’m sure all schools with televisions in the staff room were tuned in. We sure were! This speech lasted about two hours giving the top 100 schools in the country,the top 10 boys and girls and a few other “brief” remarks about education in general.

About noon telephone lines were opened up to allow people to find out results of individual students. People were able to SMS (text) the student’s testing number and then a return SMS would then be sent with the information.

As you can see from the photos, all eyes were on the television during the speech listening for the top schools. As the day progressed, teachers had rosters of last year’s students they were filling in as the SMSs came in with scores. Last year we were disappointed with our results as they had dropped from the previous year. The reputation of our school was on the line and we needed to improve.

I’m afraid that I didn’t stay around all day to see how St. Monica’s did. As I haven’t had any Form IV students until this year, I didn’t have a vested interest in the results. I’m happy to report that our school did well and obtained the best scores ever in our history. After students finished taking exams Wednesday afternoon, they took to the streets to celebrate. I wish I had been there for that. I did hear them while I was at home that afternoon. I’m guessing that they were about half a mile away, so you can guess how enthusiastic they were.

The following morning Bishop Crawley came by to congratulate the girls. He is giving money for us to feast to celebrate the results. Our day of celebration will be on March 10th when the girls return from half-term break. One of my fellow teachers told me, “You need to sharpen your teeth for the feast. There will be much meat.” Another said, “Many goats will lose their lives for our benefit! We will eat well on that day.”