Christ The King in Bungoma County and St Peter’s School in Kakamega produced the top candidates nationally in this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, results compiled by the Daily Nation show.
There were celebrations in the two counties when news of the top candidates broke shortly after Education CS Ezekiel Machogu announced the results at Mitihani House, Nairobi, yesterday.
Robinson Makokha Fwaro from Christ the King and Glen Otieno Omondi of St Peter’s Primary scored 431 marks.
They were among thousands of pupils who defied odds, including the Covid-19 pandemic, to top in the papers that mark transition from primary to secondary school.
Candidates had only six months to prepare for the tests following the disruption on the academic calendar caused by the pandemic.
Vallery Awino from Nambale Magnet School in Busia County had 426 marks out of a possible 500.
Fwaro said he did not expect to emerge the best in the country.
“I put much effort in preparing for the examination and hoped to be among the top 10 in Kenya. I am overwhelmed,” the 14-year-old said.
He is hopes to join Alliance High and pursue software engineering abroad later.
Mr David Fwaro Wekesa said his son had made him, the family and Kakamega County proud.
“I have been challenging him to beat my 2002 record when I was the top Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination student at St Athony Mateka Secondary School in Bungoma County. I still have a copy of the newspaper with my photo on the front page,” he said.
Christ The King headteacher, Stephen Chamegere, said Fwaro worked very hard to put the school on the national map.
Teachers, pupils and parents of St Peter’s Boys Primary in Mumias broke into song and dance upon receiving news of Omondi’s performance.
Omondi’s parents travelled for more than three hours from Homa Bay to join the celebrations.
He attributed his success to hard work and support from his teachers. Like Fwaro, Omondi hopes to join Alliance High School and study engineering in future.
“I thank God for making me emerge top in the country. I also thank my teachers, parents and fellow pupils for encouraging me realise my dream. I expected to perform well but not to this extent,” Omondi said.
St Peter’s Boys headteacher, Ann Onyancha, described Omondi as a hardworking pupil who posted excellent results since joining the school in Standard One.
Mr Peter Otieno described his son as humble, obedient and hardworking.
“He has done us proud by fulfilling the promise he made to the family. Omondi said he would give his best in the examination. That is exactly what he did,” an elated Mr Otieno said.
Others that posted impressive scores in the national examination are Fesbeth Academy in Kakamega, whose 111 candidates scored 400 marks and above.
The top pupil at Fesbeth, Shelmith Vudoyi, scored 424 marks.
He was closely followed by Gian Mbuguah with 420.
Fifty pupils at neighbouring Kakamega Hill School had at least 400 marks. The top candidate, Dickens Otieno, had 418.
Omega Onyancha had 421 marks to emerge top at Booker Academy. He was followed by Swedo Johnson with 420.
Eighteen Kakamega Primary School pupils scored 400 marks and above. The top pupil was Barack Kuya Lubwasi who had 420 marks.
The top candidate at Isanjiro Primary, a public school, was Ombima Wakarima with 415 marks, followed by Fabregas Muhelechi who had 414.
Pinnacle Academy was among other top-performing schools in Bungoma, with nine pupils scoring above 400.
Serve Academy in Vihiga had a mean score of 376. Twiba Tohra, topped in the county with 417 marks. All the 42 candidates scored more than 300 marks.
The second student in Vihiga, Bravin Simiyu, was from Hekima Academy. Simiyu scored 415 marks. BY DAILY NATION