Lusambo uninspired with C/belt G12 pass rate
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 12:40:21 +0000
By MUYANI SHINJABALE
COPPERBELT Minister, Bowman Lusambo, has attributed the low pass rate for Grade 12 pupils in the Province to bad vices among young pupils such as beer drinking and unprotected sex.
In an interview with Daily Nation, Mr. Lusambo noted that a lot of young girls and boys were patronizing night clubs and other places while engaging in extra activities such as beer drinking, among other bad vices that overwhelmed them to the point of failing to study.
Mr. Lusambo urged parents and guardians to encourage their school going children to concentrate on studies.
“AS Copperbelt Minister, I ‘am embarrassed with the poor performance of the Grade 12 pupils in the Province which is famous for recording successes.
“As you may know, the Copperbelt Province is a number one province, hence it is imperative that we maintain the same status.
“It is for this reason that I will sit down with the Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, the Technocrats and the Education officers to see where we went wrong as a Province and make improvements,” he said.
Mr. Lusambo said it was important for parents and guardians, especially on the Copperbelt to monitor and regulate the learners because an uneducated country was a doomed one.
Northern Province recorded the best passing rate for grade 12 national examinations hitting the 96 percent mark in 2017.
Eastern, Luapula, Muchinga and Copperbelt provinces completed the top five best performers with the capital Lusaka coming out in 6th place.
Southern province which has previously recorded some of the most impressive results dropped to the bottom of the country with a disappointing 43% pass rate.
According to the Ministry of Education Central, Western, Northwestern and Southern provinces under-performed because parents of school going children were forcing them into agricultural activities as well as early marriages and pregnancy.
The ministry further states that in Southern province particularly, parents and village elders were forcing their children into marriage.