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Secrets of top KCSE secondary schools in Kenya
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The battle for top places in the national Form Four examinations begins in earnest as early as the first form, a nationwide survey by the Nation this week reveals.
Interviews with head teachers and other staff of leading secondary schools in Kenya revealed no magic bullet to top in KCSE but different methods that have been employed with success.
However, committed teachers, a disciplined student fraternity and use of incentives came up repeatedly.
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Alliance high school
Working outside of the normal class hours, some schools complete their syllabus as early as January, allowing candidates to revise for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams for a whole year.
It is these professional tricks that have allowed schools with as high as 250 candidates to top the charts. In the results released on Wednesday, Maranda Boys High school in Nyanza topped the charts despite registering 261 candidates. It had a mean of 11.2.
Other that performed well despite a high number of candidates included Alliance High, (232) Nairobi School (279), Maseno (244), Limuru Girls (240), Pangani (267), Kibabii High (265), Njiiris (266), Meru (229), Nyambaria (262), Lugulu (294), Kabianga (270), Kakamega (276), St Josephs Boys, Kitale (330) and Kisii (315).
Working outside of the normal class hours, some schools complete their syllabus as early and January, allowing candidates to revise for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams for a whole year.
Maranda High school: Dedicated team saw us rise to the top of the deck
The secret behind the outstanding performance of Maranda High, according to the schools Principal Boaz Owino, is hard work and dedication.
I cannot say that I have the best teachers in this school, but I can confidently say I have the most dedicated team he said.
He said they ensure that they cover the syllabus by June every year.
Good time management, Mr Owino said, enables them to cover the syllabus on time without having to sacrifice the time set aside for co-curricular activities and holidays.
Once the syllabus is completed, students are then given time to revise, he said.
He added that they had established a friendly working relationship between teachers and students which enables students to talk to teachers freely and ask questions to improve their weak areas.
Marandas head of academic affairs Saul Wera said they track their performance and they are always keen on improving their weak areas detected in both national and local examinations.
The school currently has a total of 1,540 students 290 of whom will be sitting for their KCSE this year.
Starehe Boys centre: Random tests and remedial work did it
Starehe Boys Centre made a huge comeback in last years KCSE examinations by emerging fourth nationally, with a mean grade of A-.
The improved performance, as the Saturday Nation learnt, was as a result of a change in teaching technique.
As soon as the school performed below expectations in 2010, teachers said, ways were devised to increase teacher-student interaction.
School principal Paul Mugo said that students were also randomly assessed, away from the normal exam periods.
Mr Mugo said that the good performance registered by the school was as a result of changing the timing of issuing assessments to students and giving more attention to remedial teaching.
What we did different last year is that the timing of evaluation changed and more time was given to remedial teaching, he said.
According to school director Matthew Kithyaka, the boys were urged to use their extra time to study, such as during weekends and evenings.
And this was evident when the Nation visited the school on Wednesday.
No sooner had the students celebrated their 2011 achievements than they began filing away to their classes to resume work in contrast with previous years.
Kenya High School: Saturday is a working day, but no tuition here
At Kenya High, ranked seventh with a mean of 10.6, the syllabus is covered by the beginning of May. Thereafter, candidates embark on group discussions which are guided by the teachers.
It is a learner-driven approach with teachers only guiding to ensure the bar is raised to our standard, said the schools deputy principal Ms Lucy Mugendi.
Lower classes should have covered the syllabus by October of every year before embarking on the next class work.
The school timetable runs from 6.20am when students attend preps up to 7.20. During this time teachers of compulsory subjects attend to the students.
They do this for free as we have not asked parents to pay us something, says Ms Mugendi.
They then go to a 40 minute morning devotion before beginning normal classes which run up to four. They also go for evening classes, which run up to nine in the evening.
We want our students to have enough rest. Indeed by 10.30pm the lights are out, she says.
The school, which has a population of more than 1,000 students, has two games days, Mondays for Form Three and Four, and Friday for the lower classes.
Since the holiday tuition was banned by the government the school now has classes up to Saturday. Classes begin at 7.30am and run up to 4pm.
Teachers get a small token per session, but mostly it is sacrifice and love for the students that drive teachers, said Ms Mugendi.