Education cabinet secretary (CS) Ezekiel Machogu has disclosed that there were few cases of examination irregularities in the 2023 KCSE examinations.
Speaking during the release of the results on Monday, January 8, 2024 at Moi Girls High School Eldoret, Machogu said that only four candidates had their results cancelled due to impersonation.
At the same time, the Education CS noted that the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) withheld marks for 4,109 candidates due to suspected exam malpractices.
Machogu added that KNEC was investigating the alleged examination malpractices and will release a report in the next 20 days.
READ MORE: CS Machogu releases 2023 KCSE results at Moi Girls Eldoret
The Education CS stated that of the 899,453 candidates who sat the 2023 KCSE examination, 450,554 were male, while 448,899 were female, representing 50.09% and 49.91% of the total candidature respectively.
In the 2023 KCSE, 9 Counties had a significant entry of more female than male candidates: Vihiga (54.39%: 45.61%), Elgeyo Marakwet (54.22%: 45.78%), Kirinyaga (52.74%: 47.26%), Meru (52.61%: 47.39%), Kiambu (52.59%: 47.41%), Nairobi (51.91%: 48.09%), Kisumu (51.82%: 48.18%), Kitui (51.82%: 48.18%).
On the other hand, the number of KCSE candidates aged 16 years and below increased from 12,710 (1.438%) in the year 2022 to 16,040 (1.776%) in the year 2023.
However, the highest percentage of candidates registered for the 2023 KCSE examination were within the appropriate age bracket of between 17 to 19 years.
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He added that the 2023 KCSE examination results will be followed by the release of KPSEA reports for candidates who sat the Grade 6 assessment in 2023 in the next 2 weeks.
“I urge all parents, and teachers to scrutinise the KPSEA reports to ensure they use the results to monitor learner progress,” said CS Machogu.
Meanwhile, KNEC Chairperson Julius Nyabundi had said that 2023 KCSE candidates have 30 days to appeal results.
In addition, Machogu urged the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to intensify the career awareness campaign for 2023 KCSE candidates.
“I direct KUCCPS to mount a robust career awareness campaign among the 2023 KCSE candidates to ensure all students understand the new TVET and universities entry requirements under the Higher Education Funding Model that was launched last year,” said Machogu.
He explained that the 2023 KCSE candidates were graded using the new grading system, unveiled in August 2023.
Under the new grading system, the overall grade at KCSE examination has considered Mathematics, the best performed language subject among English/Kiswahili/Kenyan Sign Language and the best performed five subjects.
According to Machogu, the new grading system was meant to ensure more students qualify for admission to universities and colleges.
