On 2018-11-21, Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed announced the KCPE results, and one of the biggest surprises came from Ikombe Day and Boarding Primary in Yatta constituency, Machakos County. The remote public school was ranked the best in the country after its 95 candidates posted a mean score of 418.6.
The result capped a long climb for the school, which had already been improving steadily in previous years. Its mean score stood at 296.14 in 2012, rose to 344.58 in 2013, improved again to 357.60 in 2015, then reached 388.48 in 2016. In 2017, the school posted 389.844 and was ranked the third best-performing public primary school nationally.
Head teacher Munya Mbondo said the latest performance exceeded expectations. He said the school had moved from third place the previous year to first place, adding: "Last year, we were ranked number three in the category of best performing public schools, but this year, we beat them all. We are grateful, our labour paid off, this is God's doing,"
Only one of the 95 candidates failed to score 400 marks and above. Rita Mwelu led the school with 441 marks, while the top boy scored 439. The lowest score was 399 marks.
Mbondo said the results were balanced across boys and girls. He also said social studies was the weakest subject, with a mean of 77.44 points, while mathematics produced the strongest showing at 91.2 marks.
Teachers and pupils credited the outcome to discipline, hard work and religious commitment. Mbondo said the school had built a culture of setting targets early and treating the KCPE preparation as a long-term project that starts in Standard One and becomes more intense in Standard Six.
Gregory Mwende, who scored 431 marks and wants to study law, said the school day was demanding. He said: "We normally wake up at 4am and end our day at 9pm. Cleaning is done on Sundays. Our teachers are always there to assist us in the areas we experience difficulties; that is how we have managed to be where we are,"
The school also said its female pupils are required to shave, a rule that was cited as part of the discipline behind the strong results.
Despite the academic success, Ikombe Day and Boarding Primary remains under strain from harsh weather and limited infrastructure. The school is about 28 kilometres from Matuu town and depends on water pumped from Ikombe market. During dry periods, it has to buy water.
Mbondo said the water shortage, together with the long distances pupils walk to school, led to the construction of dormitories in 2012. He added that the school also wanted to protect learners from floods during the rainy season. Pupils now live within the school compound, although boarding is not compulsory.
He said the institution still struggles with delayed government funds and accepts needy pupils as they are. The school does not have a library, and textbooks are kept in small offices.
Pupils told the Nation they had never used a computer, and some had never typed on one or used social media. Even so, they said they hoped to become lawyers, doctors, journalists and engineers.
They asked the government to reward the school with a new library, a computer library and more dormitories to ease congestion. Machakos Education Executive Lazarus Kivuva was meeting the school management when the Nation visited. He said Governor Alfred Mutua had asked the school to prepare a list of its top priorities for support.
