On 20 November 2018, St Gabriel Primary School in Mwingi, Kitui County, emerged with strong KCPE results only months after a road tragedy that killed 12 of its pupils.
The school’s top candidate scored 425 marks, followed by another pupil with 423. Three more candidates posted 415, 414 and 404 marks, showing a sharp turnaround for a school still carrying the weight of the accident.
Among the survivors who performed well were Ashley Mwende, who scored 415 marks, and Faith Mumo, who scored 414. Diana Mwangi got 383 marks, while Lynn Mutua scored 356.
Christopher Nzili, the chairman of the school’s Board of Management, said 29 other pupils scored above 350 marks. He said the results were remarkable given the trauma the school had gone through only three months earlier.
“These are impressive results by any standards considering the tragic events we went through only three months to the exam. We are happy for the children,” Nzili told The Standard on the telephone.
The school posted a mean grade of 373.3. It had been thrown into mourning in August 2018 when its bus collided with a lorry at Kanginga bridge along the Nairobi-Mwingi-Garissa highway, killing 12 pupils. The children were returning from an academic trip to the coast when the crash happened.
Elsewhere in Kitui County, St Josephine Bakhita Primary School also celebrated after nine pupils scored 400 marks and above, with the top candidate posting 435 marks. At Malivani AIC Boarding School, eight pupils also crossed the 400-mark threshold.
