Education CS Ezekiel Machogu explains why top KCPE candidates were not ranked

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu explained that the government would no longer announce the ranking of top students in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) to avoid negative competition.

While releasing the results on Wednesday, December 21, Machogu did not announce the names of the top best performers and schools.

He added that President Wiliam Ruto also agreed with the decision when he presented the results at State House, Nairobi.

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu Pulse Live Kenya

In previous years, while the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) does not rank all candidates, it compiles the top performers and their scores.

“Going forward, even for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) which we’ll release next month, there’ll be no ranking. It introduces unnecessary competition, which isn’t necessarily the case when there’s an instrument of measurement,” CS Machogu said.

According to KNEC CEO David Njeng’ere, ranking fuels unhealthy competition and examination malpractices among students and schools.

“It doesn’t have merit. I wish we were discussing the quality of education and how exams can be used as a scorecard on the quality. That should be the conversation, like we have generally achieved gender parity in our education and that we have more learners in the average bracket. The tail is becoming shorter,” he said.

“We’re raising the stakes (by ranking) and some people feel they must be number one no matter what it takes. Can we bring down the stakes!” Njeng’ere added.

KNEC CEO David Njeng’ere Pulse Live Kenya

The 2022 KCPE is the second last national examination of its kind as the government phases out the 8-4-4 curriculum for the competency-based curriculum.