What Is He Doing Now? Story of Student Who Scored Highest KCPE Marks Ever

Photo collage of student sitting for national exams and other celebrating after receiving results
Photo collage of student sitting for national exams and other celebrating after receiving results
File

In 2003, Marita Nyakundi Calvin set a record in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination by scoring the highest marks ever.

Marita scored 482 marks out of 500, a national record that has never been broken to date. He had an average score translating to 97 per cent.

The top candidate was followed closely by Moraa Rose who garnered 481.

In fact, the top two candidates transcended the previous records set in the history of the KCPE exams, with Marita outsmarting Moraa by a slight margin. 

File photo of Busara Forest View Academy in Nyandarua
File photo of Busara Forest View Academy in Nyandarua
File

The duo also came from the same school, Busara Forest View Academy which is based in Nyandarua. 

However, Marita's performance in primary school was subpar in the early years, making him enrol in a course dubbed Setting Myself for Success. This opportunity was a turnaround point in his life. 

“I was in Standard Five and lagging at the bottom of the class, always among the last 10 pupils,” Nyakundi stated during his last interview.

He added, “after the training, I moved to the top five in Standard Six. I sat for my KCPE in 2003 and was the best candidate countrywide, scoring 482 out of 500 marks.”

Marita extended his stellar performance at Starehe Boys Centre and later, in 2010, joined the University of Nairobi (UoN). 

At UoN he pursued a Bachelor of Medicine and was among the successful students who graduated from the institution in December 2020.

During the sixty-fourth graduation ceremony at the University of Nairobi, Marita was conferred with his degree, affirming his stature as a professional medic. 

His graduation marked 17 years since he sat the KCPE exams.

After his graduation, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) licensed him to work in the country. Being fully accredited, Nyakundi joined the Nairobi Women's Hospital in August 2021 and started serving as a medical officer.

File photo of Marita Nyakundi Calvin who topped KCPE exams in 2003
File photo of Marita Nyakundi Calvin who topped KCPE exams in 2003
File

His success story marks the progress of other candidates who excelled in their national exams in the country and continued to live up to their dreams and fulfilling their ambitions.

Naeem Samnakay also made it to the front pages of the dailies after topping both KCPE and KCSE exams in the country. In 1989 the then student at the Alliance High School was ranked the best KCSE candidate in the country.

Four years earlier, he had also made headlines after emerging as the top KCPE candidate.

Samnakay now works as a paediatric surgeon who treats patients at St John of God Subiaco and Murdoch Hospitals in Australia.