Angry parents stormed St Thomas Raganga Secondary School in Kisii County on Monday, forcing teachers to flee and locking the administration block after the school posted one of the poorest performances in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.
The unrest erupted after parents learned that the school’s top candidate had scored a D plain, with most students recording D-minus grades and several posting Es, effectively shutting the door on further education and formal employment for many of the candidates.
Witnesses said parents and residents descended on the school compound, confronting teachers and the school’s principal before chasing them away. As tensions escalated, the staff room was abandoned as villagers took control of the premises.
In video footage seen during the protests, parents and some students were seen marching through the school grounds while holding twigs, a traditional symbol of protest, chanting, and demanding accountability from the teaching staff.
“I brought my children to this school so that they could get an education, so that they can help me in the future. But the problem is that they have failed and that they can no longer help me the way I expected,” one parent said.
Another parent said the failure went beyond exam results and pointed to systemic neglect of learning.
“I currently have a child who is in Form Four, and he does not know anything. He is currently in his fourth year, yet they have yet to cover the Form One syllabus,” the parent said.
Parents accused the school’s administration and teachers of professional negligence, arguing that they had invested heavily in school fees, uniforms and other learning materials only for their children to be left with grades that offer little chance for progression.
St Thomas Raganga Secondary School, which was established in 1992, has for years struggled with poor KCSE performance. The latest results, however, appear to have pushed already frustrated parents over the edge, particularly given the school’s motto, “Education for life.
The chaos in Kisii came just days after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba released the 2025 KCSE results, showing an overall improvement in national performance.
A total of 993,226 candidates sat the examinations, with 492,012 male candidates and 501,214 female candidates, representing 49.54 P.c and 50.46 P.c of the total candidature respectively. Candidates who attained the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above stood at 270,715, up from 246,391 in 2024.
Those who scored C- and above were 507,131, while 634,082 candidates attained D+ and above.
