The lack of trained teachers and learning materials in Naivasha GK prison has been blamed for the dismal performance that saw the top KCSE candidate score a D+.
Three other inmates garnered E in the exams as the prison management and inmates vowed to consider the results as a challenge and motivation to improve.
Of the 14 inmates who sat for the exams, two inmates Gilbert Chirchir and Dominic Omondi who are incidentally serving long sentences for murder managed to score D+ (plus).
Seven other inmates registered D- (minus) while the lowest three candidates could only manage E in the national exams.
According to the officer in charge of the prison Hassan Tari, the education programme had become a rehabilitation tool in the facility.
He noted that the prison did not have a laboratory and relied on nearby schools for practical exams while fellow inmates acted as teachers.
“Last year’s KCSE results were not the best but this is just a blip and we shall support the inmates in any way possible to improve their results,” Tari said.
This came as the National Parents Association (NPA) warned over a crisis in secondary schools ahead of Form One students reporting to class.
With a lack of infrastructure, teaching staff and pending capitation, the association termed the planned 100-per cent transition a failure and a recipe for chaos in the education sector.
According to NPA Secretary-General Eskimos Kobia, the 100 per cent transition was laudable but ineffective at a time when schools did not have infrastructure or personnel.
He said that a study conducted by the association had confirmed the double allocation of form one places a move that would strain services and quality of education in secondary schools.
“There are schools whose capacity for form one is 400 places, but the ministry has allocated them 900 students yet there are no classrooms or adequate teachers,” he said.
Kobia said that many parents relied on CDF for bursary and expansion of the current school infrastructure adding that failure to remit the cash would see many Form One students miss out.
“Treasury has not remitted last year's capitation to secondary schools leading to piling debts and things will get worse as students miss out on bursary,” he said.
