KJSEA candidate who missed results admitted to senior school

As all other candidates wrote on customised scripts of the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessments (KJSEA) that were done in October 2025, Sylvia Nyaboke wrote hers on photocopied examination material.

That would mark the beginning of her frustrations with her dream of scoring the best grades in the KJSEA assessment and joining Alliance Girls’ High School, where she had hoped to enrol for senior school as she embarked on her journey of becoming a medical doctor.

Nyaboke had missed out on her official assessment scripts in a manner she could not explain, and neither could the headteacher of Nyankono DEB Primary School of Nyamira North, Charles Ombui.

“When the assessments started, a roll call of all other learners was taken according to the list of candidates that was issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). But my name was missing from the list. I was so much perturbed,” Nyaboke told The Standard.

Tense moments for her would ensue after the headteacher told her that her name wasn’t in the KNEC register and that she would be forced to write on photocopied assessment scripts.

As all other learners wrote on their customised scripts that bore all assessment details, including names and assessment numbers alongside the learners’ unique identifying numbers and names of schools, Nyaboke was forced to write the same details by her own hand and on photocopied examination material.

“It was a very low moment for me because I considered myself a black sheep of the KJSEA examinations,” the teenage girl said.

The ominous situation notwithstanding, the girl, after getting an assurance from the headteacher and the supervisors of the examinations, finished the tests well and hoped for the best when results would be announced.

But an even bigger rude shock awaited her! As her peers celebrated after receiving their results, she was heartbroken and lost for choice as her results were missed.

The last two months have been moments of reckoning and hopelessness for Nyaboke’s family as they stared into space, where uncertainty over the girl’s future was all that engulfed them.

But a glimmer of hope appeared to them after the headteacher and the Nyamira County Education Director Joshua Kaga intervened and made way for the girl to report to senior school just like other KJSEA candidates had done as KNEC processed her results.

“KNEC has been on her case, and it’s already resolved. We have made arrangements for her to report to senior school to continue with her studies,” Kaga said.

It could not be very certain if Nyaboke received her assessment results, but when The Standard caught up with her at Nyaikuro SDA Mixed Secondary, where she has been offered a Grade 10 vacancy, the mother said she was instructed to report to school first.

“Education officials told me to report to school first and that my daughter’s results had been released and she had, accordingly, been placed in the institution,” the relieved mother said.

At Nyaikuro Senior School, the learner was received and shown to her Grade 10 after finishing the formal admission process.

“Despite the challenges that I have gone through since the examination season set in, I am very much determined to become the best from this school and join university, where I intend to pursue a career in medicine,” Nyaboke said.

The mother, who could not hide her joy, said her first meal after weeks of anguish and heartbreak would be after the daughter’s admission.

“I am a happy mother now after admitting the girl to school. I have not eaten for days as I prayed and meditated over this situation. But the Lord is good; now I have enrolled her into senior school, and I will go home a happy parent,” the mother said.

It is yet to be explained by the school administration how the learner missed out on the roll of candidates of the National Assessment, as the head teacher, Mr Ombui, said he could not talk on behalf of the national examiner and government.

Mr Kaga on his part said the matter was still under scrutiny and could not be preempted.

“The government has been dealing with the matter, and in due course the report will be made on the girl’s exceptional case,” Kaga said.