KNUT boss Wilson Sossion calls for audit of KCSE exam results

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has insisted on an audit of the KCSE results released towards the end of last year saying the examinations council KNEC and Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i failed to declare the grading system and performance in each of the subjects.

Sossion, who has decried the reduction of top grades and the unprecedented rise of the lowest grade of E to over 33,000, says the system applied in the 2016 exam was punitive on the candidates.

Ministry of Education officials and those from KNEC have remained mum over the issue saying Sossion’s call for an audit of the results has been addressed to the National Assembly and not directly to them.

“We’ve not argued from the blue. We have generated a report that contains statistics and a comparison of performance from last year to this year,” said Sossion.

Sossion wondered why the number of girls who attained a mean grade of C+ and above compared to that of boys who attained the same mean grade differed so with such a high margin from last year.

“Let me ask you, is it natural that you have 50,000 at C+ and above while [the number of] boys is 38,000 compared to last year which was vice versa?” he posed.

The union leader complained that 2015 results were released subject by subject but this year’s results were not released in the same manner and wondered why the top education ministry and KNEC officials concerned have not commented on the results.

Last year there were only 14 straight As compared to 2015 where more than 2000 candidates attained a mean grade of A.