This archive report was first published on 19 December 2019.
Published on December 19, 2019, Nairobi was among the counties that presented a significant number of overage students in last year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
Out of 28,390 students who sat the national examinations in the city, 1,337 were above the age of 23, indicating a concerning trend of students encountering challenges joining Class One or moving from one class to the next.
Only Kilifi (1,431), Turkana (1,424), and Bungoma (1,371) had more overage students than Nairobi, while Garissa had 1,272 such students.
On the other hand, Murang'a had some of the youngest students, with 169 students below the age of 16 registered for last year's national examinations.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha advised parents and teachers to pay greater attention to the underage students, as they were likely to become more successful in life.
“I would like to ask parents to take care of these students as these are some of tomorrow’s geniuses,” said the CS.
Research by the Journal of Educational Psychology found that students who delayed entry to school were at an academic disadvantage compared to age-appropriate students.
Among the top underage students who got straight As were Kizito Ezra Sikuta, Chepkemoi Keyline, Njuguna Winnie Wanjiku, and Korre Rutto Dancun.
