Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Only 9 students of 284 scored a qualifying mark on the KCSE exams for entry to Kenyan public universities.
Only 9 students of 284 scored a passing score on the 2008 KSCE exams (Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education) and qualified for entry to Kenyan public universities. The passing students represented 3 percent of the 2008 KCSE candidates; the remaining 97 percent missed the opportunity.
None of the two remaining camp secondary schools produced a grade B+ for boys or C+ for girls, leaving the candidates out of the competition for the WUSC Program (World University Scholarship of Canada) in 2009.
Of the 26 girl candidates, only one student managed to obtain a C- grade, which is still below the minimum C+ university entrance requirement. Nevertheless, the girl received a certificate of “best girl” from the LWF Education Department during the education day celebration held on 13th March.
2008 KCSE results dropped nationwide, a performance drop attributed to the 2007 post-election violence and ensuing chaos, according to the Kenyan Education Minister Sam Ongeri.
The poor performance in Kakuma Refugee Camp schools is unlikely to be attributed to the above cause, as noted by an education officer. “Kakuma was not hit by the post-election chaos, so teachers’ motivation contributed much in the poor performance in our schools,” the officer commented. This was corroborated by a secondary school teacher who said, “Refugee teachers are not treated fairly.”
Of 284 students registered for the 2008 KCSE exams, 13 students results were pending or withheld, while 7 were absent on exam day.