Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has revealed that a remarkable 1,216 students achieved straight A’s in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.

This represents a slight increase from the 1,146 students who achieved this feat in 2022. The announcement was made today Monday January 8, 2024 at Moi Girls High School in Eldoret, where the results were officially released.

Addressing the press, CS Machogu provided further insights into the performance of the candidates, stating, “The number of candidates who attained the minimum university entry qualification (Grade C+ and above) was 201,133 (22.27%) in the year 2023 KCSE Examination compared to 173,345 (19.62%) in the year 2022. This is as a result of the application of the new grading system.”

The CS also highlighted the notable improvements in various subjects, including Mathematics, Kiswahili, and Biology, attributing the overall enhanced performance to the new grading system. Additionally, he revealed that a total of 30 subjects were administered in the 2023 examinations.

Furthermore, CS Machogu emphasized President William Ruto’s commitment to education, stating, “President Ruto promised to hire an additional 20,000 teachers in 2024 and assured that Ksh16 billion had been disbursed for secondary education.”

However, amidst the celebrations, concerns were raised about the 3,685 registered students who failed to sit for the 2023 KCSE examinations. In response to this, the CS directed the Directorate of Quality Assurance to conduct an investigation to ascertain the reasons behind this significant number of absent candidates.