The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) has taken note of the statement by the Minister of Education Honorable Douglas Syakalima made on 26th January 2024 during the release of the 2023 Grade 12 School and Teacher Education Examination Results.
ZANEC would like to applaud the Ministry of Education on the efficient release of the Grade 12 results. This will allow those who did not do well to register for the 2024 external examinations before the registration deadline of 1st March 2024. It is good that there was an increase of 30.88% of candidates who registered for the grade 12 examination in 2023 compared to 2024. It is gratifying that yet again the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) successfully conducted the school certificate examination to candidates in South Africa for the second year running. We have observed that the statement also included the Teacher Education Examination Results for the Teacher’s Diploma in three programmes namely Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary. It is progressive to know that the colleges have continued producing teachers at these levels given the political will exhibited by the current government in the recruitment of teachers to bridge the existing gap.
We further thank the Ministry of Education for conducting examinations free of leakages at both Grade 12 School Certificate and Teacher Education Diploma levels as this will render credibility to the quality of our school leavers and college graduates. It is also good that there was a significant reduction in the number of examination malpractices at grade 12 from 112 cases reported in 2022 to 31 cases reported in 2023. This entails the new measure put in place examination malpractices are beginning to bear fruits. We therefore also commend the government for withdrawing the examination center status for two GCE centers in Central Province and Copperbelt Provinces as it will act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
ZANEC is however concerned that:
1. It is good that girls are performing well at Grade 12 school examinations level but we need to investigate why boys are not performing as well as the girls and further address the root causes.
2. It is our hope that although the Ministry did not highlight the percentage mean scores recorded in the various subjects for examination candidates’, as they usually do, such an analysis was done to enable the Ministry take appropriate remedial measures.
3. As earlier promised by the government, it is important that the Examinations Council of Zambia generates research evidence on the reasons why so many candidates simply register but fail to sit for examinations. Such evidence can help the government devise effective strategies for addressing the problem as having 3, 093 candidates absent from examination at grade 12 is costly and retrogressive.
4. It is our hope that government will continue deploying more teachers in our schools as the number of teachers who are graduating continues to increase.
Finally, we would like to congratulate the candidates both at Grade 12 School and Teacher Education Diploma Examinations who obtained certificates as well as our teachers and lecturers for the job well done.
For/ZANEC
George Hamusunga
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
