Grade Seven pass rate improves

provincial education director, Mr Dan Moyo, said yesterday.
In an interview, Mr Moyo said he was impressed with the improvement although there was room for the province to achieve better results.
“We are quite impressed with the Grade Seven results for this year because they show an increase in the number of pupils who passed their examinations,” said Mr Moyo.
He attributed the increase in the pass rate to stability in the education sector.
“This year we had minimal disruptions of classes and the teachers were also at schools for the better part of the schools calendar,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the improvement of the provincial 2011 Grade Seven Zimbabwe School Examinations Council pass rate was also due to an improved pupil-to-textbook ratio.
“The Education Transition Fund assisted the situation, as the pupils now have increased access to textbooks compared to last year and we are grateful for this initiative by Government.
“Next year we intend to achieve better results, in fact we seek to restore our former record of 90 percent pass rate that we used to achieve in the previous years,” said Mr Moyo.
According to the 2010 Grade Seven examinations report, ZRP Ross Camp was the best school in Bulawayo with a 99 percent pass rate. It has produced the best results for the past seven years.
Amavene, Mgoqo and JW Mthimhkulu primary schools, all in the western suburbs featured in the top 10 last year while highly regarded Dominican Convent and Petra Junior, among other affluent schools, dropped out of the top 10.
Last year, the provincial pass rate for Bulawayo based on merit achieved by pupils was 76,9 percent while a 67,2 pass rate was recorded based on the subjects they passed.
Matabeleland North provincial education director, Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni, said her province had recorded fewer cases of schools getting a zero percent pass rate compared to last year, while her Matabeleland South counterpart, Mrs Tumisang Thabela, said there were high chances that the provincial pass rate could have slumped.