Education Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i released the KCPE 2016 results on Thursday.
Over 950,000 pupils sat for the primary exam in over 10,000 primary schools across the country. The exam started in early November.
Speaking during the release, Dr. Mating’i stated that pupils who score over 400 marks will be able to join national schools of their choice whether from public or private.
Additionally, the ministry of education will from next year start paying exam fees for all candidates.
The top candidate with special needs scored scored 421 marks. Out of those who sat for the exam, 5,190 pupils scored over 400 marks, compared to over 7,000 pupils in 2015.
The best candidate overall scored 436 marks. strikingly, he wouldn’t be anywhere in the top 90 slots in last year’s KCPE.
For the first time, exam materials were stored in metallic containers and not in armories as was the case before.
According to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chief executive officer Nancy Macharia, the examination exercise was 99 per cent successful.
The move to release the KCPE 2016 results earlier than previous years was well received by Kenyans.
Speaking during the release of the examinations, KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion said that the move was timely. “The earlier the results are released, the better so candidates can prepare themselves for the next step,” he said. He added that KNUT had learned from the media that the KCPE 2016 results were going to be released today. “We have learned this from the media. We didn’t know the results were going to be released today.”
Strikingly, Form One selection for the KCPE 2016 candidates was set to begin immediately after the release of the results.
