BY NOEL IYOMBWA
ALL Grade 7 pupils who sat for the 2020 exams have made it to Grade 8, Minister of general education Dennis Wachinga has announced.
And Dr Wachinga also announced that 135, 300 candidates have passed Grade 9 examination. Announcing the results in Lusaka, Dr Wachinga said 467, 834 candidates entered the 2020 Grade 7 Composite Examination, reflecting a growth of 1.66 percent from 460, 174 candidates who had entered for the examination in 2019.
He said that of the 467, 834 candidates, 239, and 501 (51.19 percent) were girls and 228, 333 (48.81 percent) were boys.
Dr Wachinga explained that of the 467, 834 candidates who entered the examination, only 403, 445 candidates representing 86.24 percent sat for the 2020 examination. 195, 507 (48.46 percent) were boys and 207, 938 (51.54 per cent) girls adding that more girls, both in absolute numbers and proportion, entered and sat for the examination.
“A total of 64, 389 candidates were absent, bringing the 2020 Grade 7 national absenteeism rate to 13.8 percent. The 2020 absenteeism rate slightly increased by 0.48 percentage points. The increase was within tolerable limits considering the negating factors during the conduct of the examination. “Of the 403, 445 candidates who sat the 2020 examination, 72, 229 (17.91 percent) obtained Division One, 102, 914 (25.52 percent) Division Two, 72, 279 (17.92 percent) Division Three and 155, 841 (38.65 per cent) Division Four.
He commended ECZ for ensuring that that there were no cases of examination malpractice reported during the conduct of the 2020 Grade 7 Composite Examination.
And Dr Wachinga has disclosed that out of the 254, 852 candidates who sat the 2020 grade nine examination, 135, 300 candidates (53.09 percent) passed.
