Schools from Kisii and Nyamira counties posted stellar results in the just-released 2022 KCSE exam results, flooring the traditional academic giants in Kenya.

For instance, Rigoko Day Secondary School in Borabu Constituency, Nyamira County had a meteoric rise in its 2022 KCSE performance compared to its 2021 KCSE results.

In the 2021 KCSE, which was held between February and March, 2022, the school posted a mean score of 5.728 (C plain).

In the subsequent 2022 KCSE exam, which was held nine months later – between November and December 2022 – the school posted a mean score of 9.0 (B plain).

All the 52 students who sat the 2022 national exam at Rigoko Day Secondary School attained mean grade C+ (plus) and above, thus qualifying for university admission.Rigoko Day Secondary School principal Zablon Nyangena attributes the results to discipline and hard work.

“We have, for several years, strived to identify the general weaknesses in the students’ academic performance. Hard work, discipline and dedication made us succeed in this. The 2022 KCSE exam results are a true picture of our work,” Nyangena told The Standard on Saturday, January 21.

Still in the larger Gusii region, Nyambaria Boys’ High School in Nyamira County topped the 2022 KCSE exam nationally with a mean score of 10.897, an A- (minus).

The school had 488 candidates in the 2022 KCSE exam. Twenty-eight (28) students scored mean grade A (plain), 383 A- (minus), 76 B+ (plus) and one B (plain), ensuring that all the 488 students qualified for university placement. This is the first time that the SDA-sponsored school is topping KCSE nationally.

In 2021 KCSE, the school had a mean score of 9.3086 (B plain), with four A (plain), 79 A- (minus), 231 B+ (plus), 130 B (plain), 77 B- (minus), 46 C+ (plus), five C plain, four C- (minus), two D+ (plus) and two D (plain). There were 580 candidates who sat the exam that year.

Cardinal Otunga High School Mosocho in the neighbouring Kisii County is likely the second-best school nationally with a mean score of 10.76 (A minus).

The school enrolled 330 candidates for the 2022 KCSE exam. Four students scored A (plain), 201 A- (minus), 97 B+ (plus), three B (plain) and one B- (minus). All the 330, consequently, secured university slots.

Other schools in either Kisii or Nyamira that got good grades in the 2022 KCSE exam include St. Mary’s Nyamagwa Girls’ High School (8.823), St. Paul’s Gekano Boys’ High School (9.951), Nyansiongo Boys’ High School (9.0), Nyabururu Girls’ High School (8.631), St. Edward Nyabioto Secondary School (8.110), Nyabisase Mixed Secondary School (8.025), Rigena High School (8.266) and Riokindo Boys’ High School (7.830),At St. Thomas Moore Riang’ombe Secondary School in Nyamira County, 61 out of 87 students got at least C+ plus to qualify for university placement.

In the 2021 KCSE exam, the school posted a mean score of 3.7 (D+). Nine months later (2022 KCSE exam), the school’s mean score skyrocketed to 7.1 (C+).The school’s principal Jared Monyancha said the result wasn’t miraculous, but was a reflection of their hard work despite the challenges it is facing.

Monyancha said St. Thomas Moore Riang’ombe Secondary School, which has a student population of 378, has, for long, been underfinanced, underdeveloped and understaffed.“We have 21 teachers, with only 14 employed by the Teachers’ Service Commission,” he said.“We are partly a boarding school, with 98 per cent of the students coming from the Esise location neighbourhood. We hope that the good results in the 2022 exam will attract more students to our school,” added Monyancha.Another school that posted significantly low mean score in the 2021 KCSE exam, but its results shot up in the 2022 test is St. Angela Segera Girls’ High School in Kisii County.In 2021, the school had a mean score of 5.91 (C plain). In 2022, the school that enrolled 195 candidates, had a mean score of 7.072 (C+), taking 131 students to university.In Nyamira County, St. Gonzaga-Gonza Isoge Secondary School got a mean score of 9.8706 (B+), with all its 85 students scoring between A- (minus) and B (plain) grades. Eight learners got A- (minus), 58 B+ (plus) and 19 B (plain).

Richard Otwori, the school’s principal, said there has been an upward trajectory in its academic performance over the years.

“Over the last five years, our results have significantly improved. The 2022 KCSE performance is the best of them all,” Otwori told The Standard.

St. Paul’s Igonga Boys’ High School in Kisii County posted a mean score of 10.24 (B+) in the 2022 KCSE exam. All its 118 students secured university slots, with the least grade being B (plain).

The results made the school to certainly fit among Top 15 best schools in the country in the recent exam.

St. Paul’s Igonga Boys’ High School had one A (plain), 28 A- (minus), 78 B+ (plus) and 11 B (plain).