KCSE 2024: Boys top maths, girls languages

Boys performed better than girls in key subjects in last year’s KCSE exam, despite the steadily reducing gender gap in access to education.

The eagerly-awaited results, whose release delayed for weeks, show boys scored higher in the majority of subjects and returned a better mean score in 23 of the 30 subjects tested.

A total of 965,512 candidates took the test. There were 899,453 candidates in 2023.

Girls outshone boys mainly in languages while boys ruled numeracy, sciences and technical subjects.

Girls had the upper hand in seven subjects including English, Kiswahili, Kenya Sign Language, French, home science, CRE and art and design in the results released on Thursday by Education Cabinet Secretary Migosi Ogamba.

Boys had better mean scores in 23 subjects including mathematics, biology, biology for the blind, physics, chemistry, general science, history and government, geography and Islamic education.

Others were woodwork, metal work, building and construction, power mechanics, electricity, drawing and design, aviation technology, agriculture, Arabic, computer studies, German, music and business studies.

Coincidentally, majority of the subjects in which boys did better than girls recorded improvements while those in which girls excelled registered a decline. Of the 30 subjects tested, 17 posted improved results.

They include maths, biology, physics, chemistry, general science, history and government, geography, Islamic religious education, agriculture, woodwork, metal work, drawing and design, aviation technology, computer studies, Kenya Sign Language, and business studies.

“10 subjects recorded a drop in performance. They were English, Kiswahili, biology for the blind, CRE, home science, building construction, electricity, French, German and music,” Ogamba said while releasing the results at Mtihani House, the headquarters of the Kenya National Examination Council.

A total of 1,693 students scored grade A, representing 0.175 per cent of the candidates, a slight increase compared to 1,216 in 2023.

More students qualified for public university in 2024 than in 2023, with the CS announcing that 246,391 students scored the minimum C+.

In the 2023 KCSE exam, 201,133 students scored C+.

Nearly half of the candidates (476,889) scored C- and above, qualifying for diploma programmes at technical and vocational education and training centres. In 2023, a total of 401,216 (44.42 per cent) scored similar grades.

The overwhelming majority (605,774, translating to 62.76 per cent), scored D+ and below compared to 526,222 (58.27 per cent) in the 2023 exams.

In terms of the total number of candidates, girls overtook boys, registering 482,202 girls accounting for 50.1 per cent against 480,310 boys, accounting for 49.9 per cent.

The exam was administered in 10,754 centres and 610 distribution centres with 30,370 examiners working in 40 marking centres.

Candidates aged below 16 increased from 16,040 to 20,546, a considerable increase because a large number of candidates are usually aged between 18 and 20 by the time they sit KCSE.

The highest candidates registered were aged between 17 and 19 and were 684,765, accounting for 70.95 per cent. Those aged 20 years and above were 259,861 accounting for 22.07 per cent.

In terms of marking and grading, as it was in the 2023 KCSE examination, the 2024 KCSE examination results were graded using the reviewed grading system in which the overall grade at KCSE examination considered mathematics, the best performed language (English, Kiswahili, Kenyan Sign Language) and the best five subjects.

To prevent cheating, the CS said candidates’ examination question papers were personalised and anonymised.

This helped to improve objectivity during marking and holding candidates personally responsible for any irregularities, he said.

But even with those measures in place there were 840 candidates who cheated and their examination results were cancelled.

The results of 2,829 candidates suspected to have been involved in irregularities were withheld pending completion of investigations by next month.

The cheating or attempts to cheat involved 91 contracted professionals hired by candidates to help them game the system. Ogamba announced disciplinary action will be taken against teachers who will be proved to have helped some candidates gain undue advantage.

Fourteen counties had more boys than girls: Garissa (62.83 to 37.17 per cent), Mandera (63.83:36.17), Wajir (60.27: 39.73), Turkana (59.64: 40.36), Samburu (53.41: 46.59), Narok (52.77: 47.23) and Homa Bay (52.81: 47.19).

Others were West Pokot (53.52: 46.48), Mombasa (51.31: 48.83), Migori (51.02: 48.98), Embu (51.09: 48.91), Kisii (51.03: 48.97), Nyamira (51.39: 48.61) and Baringo (51.67: 48.69).

Moreover, another batch of 14 counties had more female candidates than male. They included Vihiga (55.15: 44.85), Elgeyo Marakwet (53.76: 46.24), Kirinyaga (51.46: 48.54), Meru (51.69: 48.31), Kiambu (52.78: 47.22), Nairobi (52.41: 47.59), and Kisumu (52.39: 47.61).

Others were Kitui (51.14: 48.86), Taita Taveta (51.45: 48.55), Kwale (53.31: 46.69), Isiolo (52.11: 47.89), Tharaka Nithi (52.06: 47.94), Kakamega (51.80: 48.20) and Uasin Gishu (51.06: 48.94).