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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) yesterday released 2022 Grade Seven results with the country’s pass rate dropping by one percent compared to last year as female candidates outperformed their male counterparts.
The country recorded a 40 percent pass rate compared to the 41 percent recorded last year. There was a five percent increase in the number of learners who sat for public examinations this year.
The examinations body said school heads should collect the results from Zimsec regional offices across the country from today.
The results were also released on the Zimsec website via the link www.zimsec.co.zw <http://www.zimsec.co.zw>.
In a statement yesterday, Zimsec board chairman Professor Eddie Mwenje said the results have been released against a backdrop of normalcy returning to the education sector. The previous two sittings were affected by Covid-19 which resulted in schools’ closure for a prolonged period.
“The 2022 examination writing session was restored to the traditional times of October after the lifting of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions which disrupted the school calendar for the past two years. A total of 343 169 candidates sat for the 2022 Grade 7 examinations as compared to 325 573 candidates who sat for the same examinations in 2021 showing a 5,4 percent increase in candidature. This is equivalent to an additional 17 596 candidates,” said Prof Mwenje.
He said the 2022 Grade 7 examination session recorded a national pass rate of 40,09 percent which is a slight decrease by 1,04 percent in candidates’ performance from last year’s pass rate of 41,13 percent.
He said girls performed better than boys in the examinations.
“Out of the 343 169 candidates who sat for the 2022 Grade 7 examinations, 177 466 were females while 165 703 were males. The pass rate for female candidates is 43,66 percent while that of male candidates stands at 36, 22 percent. The results show that female candidates out-performed their male counterparts,” he said.
Prof Mwenje said indigenous languages recorded higher pass rates when compared to all other subjects which was the case in the three previous sittings.
He said the pass rate for special needs learners dropped from 55 percent to 30 percent this year.
“A total of 323 candidates with special needs sat for a range of subjects from 5 to 6. Of these 208 wrote 6 subjects while 91 candidates with hard of hearing sat for 5 subjects. The pass rate for special needs candidates in 2022 was 30,43 percent as compared to 54,88 percent recorded in 2021,” he said.
Prof Mwenje commended the multisectoral support Zimsec received in running the public examinations.
“Zimsec received the much-needed support from all stakeholders of this examination, of particular mention, the teachers, markers, Zimsec staff, the state security sector, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the parent Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education,” Prof Mwenje.
“The efforts and sacrifices of all involved have all contributed to the successful progression of the Zimbabwean education system for the betterment of our future generations.” — @nqotshili.
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