There was a general drop in performance in this year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams whose results were released by Education CS Ezekiel Machogu on Thursday.
The number of candidates who scored 400 marks and above reduced as compared to 2022, with only 8,523 students achieving that feat out of the 1,415,911 who sat the exam.
"This was a drop compared with the 2022 KCPE examination when 9,443 candidates scored 400 marks and above," Machogu said.
The results also showed that the number of candidates who scored between 001 and 099 marks increased from 724 in 2022 to 2,060 in 2023.
Those who scored between 100 and 199 marks also increased in number from 296,366 in 2022 to 383,025 27 in 2023.
This means the number of candidates who scored below the average mark of 250 increased as compared to last year.
Statistics also show there was a drop in performance across eight subjects unlike in 2022 when only six recorded such a decline.
"Eight papers, English Composition, Kiswahili, Kiswahili Insha, Kenya Sign Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Religious Education recorded a slight drop in performance in the year 2023, when compared to the year 2022," Machogu said.
Only English language and Kenyan Sign Language Composition recorded increases in performance.
This year's top candidate Michael Warutere from Riara Springs Academy in Nairobi, got 428 marks, recording another drop compared to last year when the top candidate scored 431 marks.
For special needs candidates, this year, only two out of the registered 3,456 were able to score above 400 marks.
In 2022 however, 39 special needs candidates out of the registered 2,466 were able to score above 400 marks.
The top special needs learner this year scored 411 marks while in 2022 the top candidate in this category registered 419 marks.
Special needs candidates who scored below the average mark of 250 represented 66.29 per cent of their total population in 2023.
Those who scored between zero and 99 marks in this category also increased from six in 2022, to seven in 2023.
Between 100 and 199 marks, special needs candidates were 1,138 in 2022 and the number grew to 1,417 in 2023.
The Star spoke to King Solomon Junior Academy Assistant Director Elly Ochieng’ who said this year's performance was a drop from previous years.
"Last year we had a mean of 373 marks while this year we have a mean of 361 marks. This is a negative deviation by nine marks," Ochieng' said.
"We have also had discussions with fellow school heads in the region (Homa Bay) and they also feel there was a drop in performance this year. I don't know if it is because this was the last KCPE exam."
Ochieng's school in Homa Bay posted impressive results that saw 10 students out of 60 candidates score 400 marks and above.
Since the government has phased out 8-4-4 system, Ochieng said he feared learners might no longer put in effort as there is no competition under the Competency Based Curriculum.
The deputy head teacher of Riara Springs which produced the top candidate, Aristaricus Andalo, told the Star the institution also recorded a drop in the mean score.
"Last year, we had a mean of 383 marks but it has dropped to 373. The drop is common in all schools in the country," he said.
Andalo said the drop in performance was due to high standardisation by the national examiner during the marking process.
"Though I do not speak for Knec, I feel the standardisation level this year was high especially, in Social Studies and Religious Education which were poorly performed," the deputy head teacher said.
