Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced a historic milestone in the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination. For the first time in over 35 years, more female candidates sat for the national exam than male candidates.
Speaking during the release of the results at Mitihani House on Thursday, January 9, 2024, CS Ogamba revealed:
“During the 2024 KCSE examinations, a total of 962,512 candidates sat for the exams compared to 899,453 in 2023. Of these, 480,310 were male, while 482,202 were female. This marks the first time female candidates outnumbered their male counterparts in KCSE history.”
The CS highlighted the performance trends, noting that female candidates performed better in seven subjects, while male candidates excelled in 23 subjects.
“Female candidates recorded a better mean score performance than male candidates in 7 subjects, while male candidates outperformed females in 23 subjects,” Ogamba noted.
Ogamba confirmed that all candidates who sat for the exam have been cleared to join higher learning institutions.
“Today, we are releasing the 2024 KCSE results for the 962,512 candidates, all of whom have been cleared to join various higher learning institutions to pursue their careers of choice,” he said.
With KCSE set to be phased out in three years, the CS announced a mid-year examination series to accommodate repeat candidates and those unable to sit for the exams during the regular schedule.
“KNEC will introduce a mid-year KCSE exam series to be administered in July each year. This initiative targets candidates wishing to repeat or those unable to sit for the exams due to illness or unforeseen hardships,” Ogamba explained.
The CS also addressed challenges associated with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), particularly infrastructural shortages.
“We have overcome expected challenges in placing all Grade 8 learners into Grade 9 classrooms. So far, we have constructed 14,500 classrooms for Grade 9 learners, and we are on track to achieve the target of 16,000 by the end of this month,” he added.
