Girls trump boys in A’ Level, Grade 7 exams

New Zimbabwe

7 March 2012

Female Advanced Level and Grade 7 pupils outperformed their male counterparts for the second year running in the November 2011 exams, according to the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council.

A’ Level female pupils had a national pass rate of 87.12 percent in 2011, while the boys trailed with 83.91 percent. In 2010, the girls outshined the boys 77.7 to 74.76 percent.

A results analysis by ZIMSEC showed fewer students (10,479) sat A’ Level exams last year, compared to 11,317 in 2010.

The drop in candidates was also evident in the boys, with 14,657 sitting exams in November 2011 compared to 16,462 the previous year.

At Grade 7, the girls were top again on 30.85 percent, with the boys in their shadow with a 26.90 percentage pass rate.

The trend was slightly different at O’ Level for both 2010 and 2011. In 2010, the boys beat the girls 18.2 to 14.6 percent, but this narrowed slightly in 2011 with the boys ahead with 21.41 compared to girls at 17.58 percent.

Education campaigners are united in calling for increased funding for schools, and Education Minister David Coltart said Wednesday that the results were far from impressive.

Educationist and former cabinet minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said: “The education sector needs to be supported not the peanuts they are currently getting. These results are a wake-up call to government because education is key to the development of any nation.”

Wellington Koke, the principal of Harare’s Direct Contact School, said the results were a “wake-up call” to the government to get its priorities right.

“The average percent pass rate simply shows that something is lacking in the country’s education system, which is funding,” he said.

“The schools that passed do not enrol under performers. Average and under-performing students should be turned around through remedial teaching and that is how we can boost the percentage pass rate. It’s useless to have same schools performing better every year while others continue to go down the drain.”

He pointed out that most rural day schools were manned by untrained staff with lesser resources compared to the boarding schools and church-run institutions which are traditionally the best performers.

Coltart complains that the bulk of his department’s budget still goes to salaries, with little spent on improving the school environment and supply of teaching aids.