Kenya has finally achieved gender parity in its provision of basic education.
According to data from the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, 881,416 candidates sat for the examination.
Of this, 443,644 were male while 437,772 were female, representing 50.33 per cent and 49.67 per cent of the total candidature respectively.
This statistic means the country has achieved gender parity, in much the same way as we have done at the primary school level
Dr Ezekiel Mochogu
“This statistic means the country has achieved gender parity, in much the same way as we have done at the primary school level,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Dr Ezekiel Mochogu.
In 2021, 826,807 candidates sat for the examination, representing an increase of 54,609 candidates (6.60 per cent).
According to the reports, 14 counties had more male than female candidates in
the 2022 KCSE examination compared to 17 counties in 2021.
With the country having 47 counties, this means there were more female candidates in at 33 counties.
Fewer counties had more male candidates
The counties with more male candidates were: Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, Turkana, Samburu, West Pokot, Kajiado, Narok, Homabay, Migori, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.
The country has recently invested in initiatives aimed at achieving equality in the provision of basic education, following bottlenecks affecting girl child education.
Cultural norms such as Female Genital Mutilation, early marriages, teen pregnancies and patriarchy are some of the major huddles affected female learners.
But the interventions which include free education and fight against the retrogressive cultural norms have seen increased enrollment of girls in schools, as well as increased rates of completion.
The 2022 KCSE results indicated that seven counties recorded high gender disparity in favour of female candidates during the examination.
The counties were; Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Kitui, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Vihiga and
Kisumu.
The report also indicated that 17 subjects recorded a significant improvement in performance, compared with 11 subjects that recorded a significant improvement in
performance in 2021.