Trans Nzoia’s senior secondary schools are back in the national spotlight, this time for academic performance and Grade 10 admissions under the Competency‑Based Education (CBE) system, rather than their long‑standing dominance in ball games. As the inaugural Grade 10 cohort reports, attention has turned to how the county’s top institutions are balancing pathways in STEM, Arts, and Sports with strong KCSE outcomes.
Interest around admissions and results has centred on leading principals: Cosmas Nabungolo (St Joseph’s Boys), Inoveletta Lukorito (St Brigid’s Girls), Rosemary Munzala (St Joseph’s Girls), Simon Masibo (St Anthony’s Boys), Elizabeth Nyangasi (St Monica’s Girls), John Mukongolo and Bernard Masinde (Bikeke Boys), Geoffrey Murunga (Goseta Boys), and Emmanuel Mukoya (Kesogon Mixed).
Those seeking the KCSE results had shifted interest from the competition of soccer, volleyball, hockey and other ballgames that had pitted the schools for many years and were now pursuing to know the fate of their boys and daughters for the university and tertiary education.
The schools have been arch-rivals in the ball games, starting from the county, regional, national to the East and Central Africa levels, with St Joseph’s and St Anthony’s majoring in sending football players to European countries for studies and professional exploitation of the talent.
For those seeking the Grade 10 admissions, the section was interested in both placement of the STEM and Arts and Sports Pathways being offered by the local schools.
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Under the new CBE system, both St Joseph’s Boys and St Brigid’s Girls, formerly classified as national government schools, are placed under the C1 cluster, as well as St Anthony’s Boys, which was promoted to the same status last year.
The trio, together with St Monica’s Girls and St John’s Sirende Girls, is sponsored by Kitale diocese of the Catholic Church, headed by Bishop Henry Odonya, who succeeded Maurice Crowle,y remembered to have instilled professionalism, discipline and integrity in the church-supported learning institutions in both Trans Nzoia and West Pokot counties before his retirement three years ago.
The other local schools mostly pursued are St Joseph’s Girls, which is under C l l and ex-county St Monica’s Girls, Goseta High School, St Mark’s Boys, Kesogon Mixed, Bwake Friends’ Boys, Bikeke Boys, St John’s Girls Sirende, St Francis Boys Suwerwa, Kipkekei Boys, Bwake Friends’ Girls and Bikeke Girls.
Outside the government, interest has continued to grow for St Anne’s Group Schools, Kiminini and Sagero Adventist Saboti, with their last two respective performances rivalling public institutions.
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St Anne’s Kiminini, which posted a mean grade of 9.0 in the 2025 KCSE with an entry of 41 to university was just waking up from a better score the previous year, and according to its director, Dr Ferdinand Nang’ole, they are set for improvement in future years after instituting both administrative, scholarly and infrastructural changes.
And for Sagero Adventist in the rural Saboti Sub-county environment, the management owed their increased entry to the university of 179 out of 228 last year, with a mean grade of 7.7, to cooperation from all education stakeholders, including the local elective leadership.
Standing tall was St Brigid’s Girls with a 9.6 mean grade, St Joseph’s Boys 9.77, St Joseph’s Girls 7.84, St Monica’s Girls 6.5, Bwake Friends’ Boys 7.8 and Bikeke Girls 6.7.
St Anthony’s, commonly referred to as the Solidarity boys, returned a 9.0 mean grade representing a direct entry of 637 to university, with the principal, Simon Masibo, saying most sports students had also excelled. ” We have laid bare opportunities for both academic and talent exposure”, Masibo said
By Abisai Amugune
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