Students post outstanding test scores

Thirty-six of the 37 Missions of Hope eighth-graders who took the placement test this fall that is required to move on to higher education in Kenyan schools scored above the passing mark, reports Wallace Kamau, director of MoHi International. “A team has now been formed to work on getting all 37 students into good high schools,” added Kamau. “We prefer boarding schools in the countryside that are well-disciplined and more likely to uphold Christian values.”

Clide Mukanzi, the MoHi student with the highest score at 403, is likely to receive a direct admission to a national (first level) school. His first choice is Starehe, which is the best in Kenya. Twelve other students scored in the 350-399 range, and will easily get places in provincial (second level) schools; some may even qualify for first level schools. Eighteen students scored in the 300-349 range, and should qualify for provincial (second level) or good district (third level) schools. Five students earned scores in the 268-299 range, and should be assigned to very good district schools.

Only one student scored less than 250, the passing mark, said Kamau, but she came late to the school in 2009 after several traumatic events in her family during the 2007-08 election violence. The school board team will work hard to place her in a good district high school, where they expect her to be a surprise performer.

Kamau points out that if these students had continued to attend the public schools in Mathare, and even made it as far as grade eight, it is very unlikely that any of them would have scored as high as 300 on the test, since it is rare for any student in the public schools to reach that mark.