The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam results released on Thursday should serve as a reminder of the great amount of effort needed to reverse the poor performance in mathematics and science.
For the second year in a row, the number of candidates who scored 400 marks and above dropped, weighed down by the two subjects.
This year's KCPE results showed 8,525 candidates scored 400 marks against 9,445 a year earlier and 11,857 in 2021.
The number of students who scored less than 100 marks nearly tripled to 2,060 from 722.
Candidates scored lower marks in 80 percent of the 10 papers, including mathematics, Kiswahili Insha, Composition, Science and Social Studies.
While this is the last lot of KCPE, the emphasis in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses, seen as key to spurring innovation and industrialisation, remains solid under the new school curriculum.
Kenya has in recent years heightened focus on STEM courses to build a bigger pool of professions in related areas.
Manufacturers have also said that STEM courses are key to encouraging a workforce built around critical thinking needed to speed up industrial revolution.
The focus on STEM marks a shift from courses in liberal arts that have recorded a spike in the number of graduates amid the jobs struggle.
Therefore, policy makers should be worried by the fall in science and mathematics performances.
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