Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu left ministry officials in stitches as he released the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results.
The CS said candidates had recorded a decline in performance in English, History and Government, Geography and Agriculture.
"You know it is always the norm for the candidates to sit in for History and Geography and these other subjects in the afternoon you know, the early exposure, you know," he said as delegates were laughing.
"Maybe this is the reason why there has been a decline in performance."
Additionally, Machogu said Physics, power mechanics, art and design, and Home science also recorded a decline in performance.
Machogu noted the increased number of students who scored E, stating that he felt 'pained'
A total of 48,174 candidates scored a mean grade of E, which is 5.33 per cent.
"I am pained by the fact that a large number of candidates still ended up scoring a mean grade of E in the 2023 KCSE Examination even after the Ministry used a more flexible system of computing the final overall candidate results," he said.
He also directed the Directorate of Quality Assurance to work with other field officers and teachers to investigate the E Grade cases in each county.
"The officers should submit a report to me within one month for further action," he said.
At least 903,260 candidates sat for the papers which began on October 23, 2023 and ended on November 2023.
Last year, Machogu announced that the Ministry of Education was exploring discontinuing the use of SMS service to check national examination results.
This was after errors were witnessed during the release of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams.
