President Ruto orders probe as Ministry of Education releases 2023 KCSE exam results

President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Education to launch an investigation into the absence of approximately 3,000 students who registered for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) but did not appear for the exams.

The president issued this directive during a briefing by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu, ahead of the highly anticipated release of the examination results on Monday, January 8.

The 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams were marked by several significant moments, including a new grading system, increased security measures, and a larger number of candidates.

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu attends a Cabinet meeting at State House on June 27, 2023 Education CS Ezekiel Machogu attends a Cabinet meeting at State House on June 27, 2023 Pulse Live Kenya

Here are some of the highlights of the 2023 KCSE exams:

New Grading System

The 2023 KCSE exams saw the introduction of a new grading system aimed at increasing the number of students joining universities.

The new grading structure was unveiled in August and focused on candidates' strengths.

In the new grading system mandatory subjects, Mathematics and one language (English, Kiswahili, or Kenyan Sign Language), will be used to compute the mean grade.

Examiners will also be required to pick five of the best-performed subjects from a candidate.

Increased Security Measures

The government implemented new guidelines to curb cheating and ensure the integrity of the exams.

These measures included changing the mode of collection of national examination papers and increasing the number of invigilators and supervisors.

Record-Breaking Number of Candidates

A total of 903,260 candidates sat for the 2023 KCSE exams, marking a significant increase from previous years.

TSC suspends principal of school that topped 2022 KCSE

In November, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) suspended Charles Onyari, the Principal of Nyambaria High School, from his role as the Centre Manager following allegations of involvement in examination malpractices.

In January 2023, Nyambaria High School made headlines after posting impressive results in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

According to the provisional results, the school had a mean score of 10.8975 out of 12, a significant improvement from the previous year's performance of 9.3086.

The school's students performed exceptionally well, with 28 students getting a grade A (plain), and 383 students getting a grade A (minus), bringing the total to 411, which represents 84.22% of the candidates.