Africa-Press – Kenya. The number of candidates who were 12 years and below for the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education have declined. Education CS Ezekiel Machogu said that the number has declined from 33,627 (2.74%) in 2021 to 31,498 (2.53%) in 2022.
Speaking on Wednesday during the during the release 2022 KCPE, Machogu said that the decline shows that children are enrolled to school at the right age.
“The decline in candidates who are 12 years and below in 2022 indicates that parents and schools are on the right path of enrolling children in school at the right age,” he said
Machogu said the number of candidates who were in appropriate age bracket of 13-15 years were 885,162 that is 71.13 per cent. The CS added that counties with the highest percentage of candidates who were 18 years and above includes Garissa, Turkana, Kilifi, Kwale and Mandera.
Bungoma county had the highest number of KCPE candidates who were 12 years and below at 2,819 in total. In 2021, Bungoma recorded 3,048 candidates who were 12 years and below for KCPE .
It was followed by Kisii with 1938 in 2022 and 2,076 in 2021. Bomet came in third with 1,841 in 2022 and 1,932 candidates in 2021. Kericho emerged fourth with 1,838 candidates in 2022 and 1,847 candidates in 2021.
Two students who emerged as the top candidates in the 2022 exam are Lewis Omondi and Robinson Fwaro. They both scored 431 marks. The two students are from schools in the Western region.
The CS noted this was an improvement from the 2021 exam where the best candidate got 428 marks. Machogu said the candidates will be allowed to start their secondary school journey as they have all qualified to be admitted to Form 1.
The CS said the class of 2022 put out a spirited academic campaign that defied the triple challenge of a general election, Covid-19 and shortened school calendars.
Of the KCPE candidates 620,965 (50.32 per cent) were boys while 612,887 (49.67 per cent) were girls. The CS said it is an indication that the country has achieved gender parity at primary school level.
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