School heads have been urged to embrace peer teaching to aid learners to perform well in local and national examinations to exploit their potential at higher levels.

Kerongorori Mixed Secondary school principal, Tabitha Mogonchi in Kenyenya Sub County, Kisii County said learners tend to understand subjects well when their fellow learners who do well in various subjects teach them.

She said students at her school have adopted the system and it has helped them perform well in national examinations, citing last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary examination ( KCSE) in which 162 out of 233 candidates passed to join universities.

The Principal noted the school’s mean rose from 5.55 in 2019 to 7.35 last year in which 60 out of 189 candidates made it to university and attributed it to group studies.

In 2020, 20 students scored B+, 50, B plain, 50, B minus, 42, C plus, 39 C, 7 D+ and 1, D, stressing those who scored C, saying those who scored C and below can join middle level colleges, pursue courses and advance their studies to higher Institutions.

“Peer teaching among our last year’s candidates contributed to the school’s improved performance. Weak students learnt from strong ones in various subjects which boosted their performance,” Mogonchi told People Daily on phone on Sunday.

Former students, asserted the Principal guided students on careers, which motivated them to work hard, pass examinations and be focused on courses they wanted to pursue at higher Institutions.

Teachers noted the Principal handled subjects and left the children to revise the topics and assist one another to understand well and remember.

“We had challenges but teamwork among the staff, subordinates, education officers, the board of management and the community helped us to overcome them,” Mogonchi said.

The Principal noted it was difficult to manage a mixed secondary school unlike single sex, adding some students to engage in love affairs, be pregnant and disoriented in their education.

She said the outbreak of Covid-19 and the prolonged holiday contributed to teenage pregnancies, stressing five candidates at the school delivered before writing the examination while another delivered during the examination.

“The candidate who gave birth during the examination scored B- ( minus). I urge female colleagues not to lose hope and be prepared to lead mixed or single-sex schools,” Mogonchi stated, adding the school has counselors who help students with various problems.

The Principal appealed to her colleagues to engage experts offer career guidance to students to enable them to identify their careers early and pursue them at middle-level colleges and universities.