Prof George Magoha Full Speech During KCSE 2019 Exams Release

Below is the full speech by Prof George Magoha the Cabinet Secretary of Education during the release of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE 2019 Results, at the Kenya National Examinations Council KNEC headquarters, Nairobi on December 18^th 2019.

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• Principal Secretary, State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education, Dr Belio Kipsang;
  
• Teachers Service Commission CEO,Dr. Nancy Macharia
  

• Chairperson, KNEC, Dr. John Onsati;
  

• Acting CEO, KNEC, Dr. Mercy Karogo;
  

• KNEC Council members;
  

• Members of the Press;
  

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am extremely excited to welcome all of you to this important ceremony meant for the release of the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Examination results. We promised to conclude this process before Christmas, in keeping with our recent reform trajectory, that seeks efficiency and effectiveness in the administration and processing of national examinations.

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I must, however, admit that this is only the tail end of the whole examination process. Before today, thousands of gallant professionals, drawn from the entire Government spectrum, have burnt their midnight oil to ensure we succeeded. All these dedicated Kenyans are not physically with us here today, but they are well represented by those gathered here. I thank each and every one of them for helping the Government to deliver as ONE, year after year.

I thank all the dedicated staff who were involved in the marking and processing of the examinations for working beyond the ordinary to achieve the outstanding success that has brought us here today.

Fellow Kenyans, I look back to the time I joined the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) as Chairman in 2016 with a tinge of satisfaction. The daunting task handed to the then Cabinet Secretary for Education, Dr Fred Matiang’i, Basic Education Principal Secretary Dr Belio Kipsang, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Secretary, Dr Nancy Macharia, and myself to slay the nagging dragon of cheating that had become the hallmark of our national examinations system seemed insurmountable. But the sheer determination of the Multi-Sectoral Team assembled by Dr Matiang’i boldly picked up the gauntlet and never looked back.

I can now confidently report to the Nation that the mission is largely accomplished. We have managed to completely wipe out the cartels in the sector that leaked examinations year in, year out. We have restored the credibility of our national academic credentials. Kenyans can now wear mirthful and confident faces whenever they are admitted to study in world class universities. They can find jobs in any part of the globe feeling confident that they are equal to any assignments that come their way.

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It is about time that the country believed in the examination reforms sweeping across our country. The setting, administration and marking of the examinations is absolutely professional. I can look at every Kenyan’s face and assure them that, as their Cabinet Secretary for

Education, I will never prefect a system that is not credible. It must remain flawless; we must systematically and meticulously tick every box there is to be ticked to ensure utmost precision in awarding grades to our candidates.

As proof that our reforms are coming of age, today I will be releasing results that show marked improvement in performance compared to those of the last three years. This is indeed a confirmation that our teachers are now preparing candidates better and that the learners themselves can now engage in studies knowing well that their performance depends on individual input. Again, with humility, I thank the country for allowing us to serve in the believe that we would make a difference.

I can, therefore, state from the onset that the 2019 KCSE witnessed not an iota of examinations leakage. As we have assured the country, all candidates were able to access the examinations questions on the day they were supposed to be administered. I am going to address this matter in greater details a bit later.

Key Education Issues in 2020 Academic Calendar

I now wish to address you on some critical sector issues ahead of the start of the 2020 academic calendar.

Rollout of the CBC in Grade Four in 2020

I wish to assure the country that, as recommended at the National Curriculum Reforms Conference held at the KICC in August, 2019, which was graced by His Excellency the President, the Ministry is now fully prepared to roll out the CBC in Grade Four from January 2020. As you have just heard from the TSC CEO (Nancy Macharia), the last batch of teachers are being trained this holiday and will be ready ahead of the Grade Four rollout. We are ready.

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In addition to the teachers’ readiness, the Ministry has supplied Grade Four textbooks in 97 per cent of the counties. The remaining counties will be reached before schools open for the First Term in January. Indeed, these are the regions where the Ministry encountered difficulties to deliver books due to the ongoing rains.

Fellow Kenyans, for sustainable capacity development of teachers under the CBC, and to improve the quality of education, the Government has revised the lowest pre–service teacher training qualification from Certificate (P1) to Diploma level. A curriculum for this new level of training has been completed and the new cohort of learners will be admitted to various colleges in 2020. I expect relevant departments to release details of the application and training process in due course.

At the August National Curriculum Reforms Conference, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta pronounced that there will be no national examinations in Grade Six. To further provide directions on transition of the first CBC cohort from Primary to Junior Secondary School in 2023, I wish to announce that the Task Force that I set up to advise me on Curriculum Reforms is in the process of finalising Regulations and Guidelines on the establishment of institutions under the Basic Education Framework.

The proposed Regulations and Guidelines will be subjected to public participation before gazettement. Part of the proposals that we will expect Kenyans to dialogue on will be a recommendation that the Ministry establish Transition Committees at the National, County and Sub-County levels. A Terms of Reference for the committees will be to put in place strategies to ensure 100 per cent transition of learners from Primary to Junior Secondary School in 2023.

Finally, fellow Kenyans, I wish to assure you that the CBC will be anchored on evidence-based decisions. As a result, the Task Force on Curriculum Reforms is recommending to set up a watertight monitoring and evaluation system in 2020 that will include baseline data indicators that will be relied on from time to time to make solid decisions on prudent utilisation of resources across the sector.

Government’s 100 per cent transition policy

We are from January 2020 embarking on another campaign to enrol all candidates who sat KCPE this year in Form One. The Ministry will from the first day of reporting – January 13^th 2020 – work with all relevant Government agencies to ensure that no candidate fails to join Form One.

I have asked all primary school head teachers – through the TSC and Kenya Primary School Heads Association – to develop an inventory of the schools to which their
2019 candidates were placed and liaise with all relevant agencies and institutions to ensure they are enrolled in Form One. I am today also asking the secondary school principals, through the TSC and Kenya Secondary School Heads Association, to stop at nothing until all the learners placed in their schools report and are dully enrolled.

I am happy to announce that applications for the 9,000 Ministry of Education scholarships – through the support of the World Bank-funded Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP) – closed on Monday. I am optimistic that needy candidates from the 110 sub-counties and 15 urban areas with informal settlements will be awarded the scholarships and be enabled to join Form One in 2020. A further 9,000 will benefit from the same scholarships in 2021, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 18,000 at a cost of Sh3 billion.

The Government is doing all it can to build more classrooms in public secondary schools. As a result, the Government will construct classrooms, laboratories and other infrastructure in the SEQIP target areas at a cost of Sh8 billion. While I commend the Government and Development partners for this work, I wish to urge other agencies and Government initiatives such as the Constituency Development Fund to step in and help us to expand the necessary infrastructure in our schools.

Leveraging on the NEMIS Platform

I wish to use this opportunity to ask all schools to ensure that details of their learners are captured under the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) platform. As of yesterday, I am happy to report that we have made tremendous progress in capturing of data of our learners and educational institutions. Already, a total of 9,112 public secondary schools and a further 3,915 private schools have been captured under the NEMIS system. Additionally, we have a commendable 3 million learners from public secondary schools enrolled in the NEMIS data while 112,032 have been enlisted from private secondary schools.

At the primary school level, 23,705 public primary schools have been enlisted in the NEMIS data. We have enrolled a combined 6.5 million primary school learners. I wish to ask all parents and teachers to take advantage of the simplified system of issuing birth certificates under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to register all learners.

I wsh to add that the NEMIS system has so far helped us to administer the medical insurance scheme for secondary school students, popularly called EduAfya. Further, the system is now critical since the entire Form One admission process is conducted through the platform. In January, we expect to capture daily real-time data on Form One reporting and enrolment thanks to the NEMIS system.

To enhance the capacity of NEMIS, the Ministry of ICT is upgrading our internet bandwidth from 1 GBPS to 10 GBPS that is supported by the Government Common Core Network (GCCN).

Admission to Universities and TVET Institutions

The Government wishes to have youth proceed to their next level(s) of learning without delay. I am therefore asking the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to immediately put in place mechanisms to start placing the 2019 KCSE Examination candidates in the various courses they are qualified for.

I particularly wish to encourage Kenyans to allow their youth to pursue courses in the now vibrant Technical, Vocation Education and Training sector.

2019 KCSE Examination Candidature

During the 2019 KCSE examination, there were 667,222 candidates who sat the examination. Of these, 355,782 (51.03%) were male, while 341,440 (48.97%) were female, a near gender parity.

A total 17 counties that had more female than male candidates in the 2019 KCSE examination compared to 18 counties in 2018. These were: Meru, Vihiga, Kiambu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nyandarua, Tharaka Nithi, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Murang’a, Machakos, Kitui, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Kirinyaga, Kakamega, Kwale, and Nandi counties.

The examination was taken in 10,287 examination centres across the country compared to 10,078 last year.

KCSE 2019 Candidates with Special Needs

A total of 1,672 candidates with special needs sat the 2019 KCSE examination compared with 1,499 candidates with special needs who sat the 2018 KCSE. The highest number of candidates with special needs who sat the examination comprised those who were Physically Impaired (651). Four candidates in this category scored a Mean Grade of A- (Minus) with 127 scored a Mean Grade of C+ (plus) and above. Clearly, given a good environment, learners with special needs can excel in examinations.

Subject Performance in the 2019 KCSE Examination

In the 2019 KCSE examination, 16 subjects recorded a significant improvement in performance, compared to 14 subjects in 2018.

Eleven (11) subjects recorded a significant decline in performance in 2019 compared with 12 in 2017. There was no significant change in performance in three subjects.

I particularly wish to mention English, Kiswahili, chemistry, biology and physics as some of the critical subjects where performance significantly shot up in 2019 compared with 2018.

Performance by Gender in the 2019 KCSE Examination

Female candidates performed better than male candidates in the following eight subjects: English, Kiswahili, CRE, Home Science, Art and Design, German and Kenya Sign Language.

Overall Grade Achievement in the 2019 KCSE

The number of candidates attaining the highest overall Mean Grade (A Plain) in the KCSE examination rose from 315 (0.05%) candidates in 2018 to 627 (0.09%) in the 2019 KCSE examination. Similarly, the number of candidates attaining the Mean Grade of A- (Minus) has shot up to 5,796 (0.83%) from 3,417 (0.57) in 2018.

Overall, the number of candidates with minimum university entry qualification of Mean Grade C+ and above in 2019 is 125,746 (18.02%) compared with 90,377 (13.77%) in the 2018 KCSE examination.

This analysis explains why I started my speech by asking Kenyans to believe in the reforms that we have been conducting. That the overall performance of candidates has been increasing since we reformed the system of administering the examinations means that candidates
have settled down to working hard on their own – under the leadership of their teachers – to prepare for examinations.

Most Improved Candidates and Schools in KCSE 2019 Examinations

Fellow Kenyans, today I wish to address an issue that has troubled the Ministry for many years. Each year, we celebrate the top performers, lift them shoulder high and buy them all forms of gifts. Parents flock to top national schools to seek admission of these candidates.

On the contrary, we sneer at and express all forms of contempt at the candidates who score 200 marks and below. We write them off from future academic excellence. Some families marry off girls who score such low marks, while some boys are sent to menial jobs on the grounds that they are academic dwarfs. Today, I wish to debunk this outdated myths.

Our analysis of how individual candidates who scored as little as 177 ended up scoring top grades in the KCSE is one story of extreme hope and encouragement, especially coming in the face of the new Government policy of allowing all KCPE candidates to join Form One.

I proceed to name some of the most improved candidates, but hasten to add that the list is just the tip of the iceberg:

This trend should give hope to our low KCPE performers that they have a chance to do much better at the KCSE level. It also means that the Government’s push for the 100 per cent transition policy from primary to secondary school makes a lot of sense.

The top TEN OVERALL candidates in the 2019 KCSE are as follows:

The top TEN OVERALL UNDER-SIXTEEN candidates in the 2019 KCSE are as follows:

The top TEN OVERALLSPECIAL NEEDS candidates in the 2019 KCSE are as follows:

The top TEN OVERALL SCHOOLS in the 2019 KCSE Examination in terms of A (Plain) Mean Grade Scores are as follows:

Examination Irregularities inthe 2019 KCSE Examinations

Our enhanced measures of fighting examination cheating in our schools have succeeded with a high measure of success. I wish to state that we have now stamped out the overt cases of cheating that were rampant in our education ecosystem. I once again repeat that that the combined effort of the multi-agency government monitoring team has turned in the greater success.

But as we scale up these measures in a manner to domicile them in our education traditions, we are also witnessing much more sophisticated and covert forms of cheating, which we are now fully prepared to nip in the bud – now and in the future. I wish to mention that over the period of the exams, we collected close to 100 mobile phones from various examination centres. In Kisii, we apprehended more than 10 impersonators who had connived with unscrupulous people to produce fake photo albums to give the impression they were genuinely KNEC registered candidates. In Nairobi’s Eastleigh, we collected 35 mobile phones from a single centre. There were some cases of individuals who were attempting early exposure of examination papers, among others ills. Unfortunately for them, they were all apprehended.

Arising from these failed cases, we are cancelling individual results of 1,309candidates who were involved in the various forms of cheating. These included being found with mobile phones, carrying unauthorised materials to examination rooms, and collusion. The number of cases of irregularities is therefore much lower than the 4,519 cancelled in the 2018 KCSE. This year, we have also withheld results for 658

candidates just for routine checks on small details, including accuracy of their names and registration details. These results will be released to candidates as soon as the verification process is completed.

Breakdown of the cases of cancelled results for each of the 1,309 candidates

The actual breakdown of the cases of cancelled results for each of the 1,309 candidates is as follows:

Accessing of the 2019 KCSE Examination Results

Candidates should collect their results from their respective examination centres. Individual candidate results can also be accessed by sending a candidate’s full index number (ELEVEN DIGITS) followed by the initials KCSE through a Short Message Service (SMS) to 20076 immediately after this event. Principals can download and print the online results slips for candidates in their schools and authenticate them before they are released to parents, guardians or candidates.

It is now my humble duty and privilege to declare the 2019 KCSE examination results officially released. I wish all candidates success in their future endeavours. Lastly, I wish all Kenyans a Happy and Prosperous New Year, 2020.

PROF. GEORGE MAGOHA, CBS, CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. WEDNESDAY, 18^th DECEMBER 2019.

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