Girls shine in 2022 Zimsec results

Last year's Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) A-Level results had a pass rate of 88 percent, 4,87 percent higher than the 83,13 percent of 2021, with female candidates scoring even better with a 92,32 percent pass rate.

The results, released yesterday, have been posted on the Zimsec website and candidates can access them on their online Zimsec portals.

Heads of examination centres can collect the results from regional offices on Monday.

Zimsec board chairperson Professor Eddie Mwenje has attributed the increase in the pass rate to the restoration of the normal school calendar after 2020 and 2021, which led to better learner preparedness and to the continuous assessment learning activity component which was integral to the candidates' learning and assessment.

He said there was a drop in the number of candidates who sat for last year's exams, from 49 128 in November 2021 to 36 945 last year.

"Of these, 36 385 wrote two or more subjects compared to 48 234 in 2021. For those who wrote two or more subjects, 32 020 obtained a Grade E or better. This translates to an 88 percent pass rate.

"In November 2021 however, 48 234 wrote two or more subjects and 40 842 obtained Grade E or better in two or more subjects translating to a percentage pass rate of 83,13. The national pass rate for 2022, therefore, increased by 4,87 percent."

Prof Mwenje said candidates had settled in well into the demands of continuous assessment and all candidates, parents, and stakeholders needed to remember that the continuous assessment component was part of the learning and assessment.

Of the total number of candidates in November last year, 31 088 came from schools, with 30 895 writing two or more subjects, and they generated a pass rate of 89,81 percent.

He said in comparison, 40 806 school candidates sat for the A-level exams in November 2021, with 40 599 writing two or more subjects and 35 276 obtaining Grade E or better yielding a pass rate of 8689 percent.

The rest of the candidates were private candidates. In November last year, there were 5 857 candidates with 5 490 writing two or more subjects and 4 273 obtained a Grade E or better in two or more subjects, which translated to a pass rate of 77,83 percent.

"In November 2021, the total number of private candidates was 8 322, out of which 7 725 wrote two or more subjects and 5 566 obtained a Grade E or better in two or more subjects, which translated to a pass rate of 72,05 percent".

Prof Mwenje said last year, female candidates performed better than their male counterparts.

"A total of 15 503 female school candidates sat for two or more subjects in November 2022 Advanced Level examinations with 14 193 passing two or more subjects yielding a 92,32 percent pass rate, an increase of 5.58 percent from 86.74 percent for 2021.

"The total number of male school candidates who sat for two or more subjects was 15 392 of which 13 434 passed two or more subjects, which translates to 87.28 percent, an increase of 5.02 percent from 82.26 percent for 2021," he said.

Prof Mwenje said a total of 30 candidates with special needs sat for the November 2022 A-level examinations and of these, 26 wrote two or more subjects with 22 obtaining a Grade E or better yielding a percentage pass rate of 84.62.

"In comparison, 56 special needs candidates sat in November 2021, with 54 obtaining Grade E or better in 2 or more subjects, yielding a percentage pass rate of 96.42. This translates to a percentage decrease of 11.8 in 2022. The candidates were in four different categories namely enlarged print, braille, hearing impairment, and physical impairment," he said.

During the 2022 examination session, Prof Mwenje said certain students were implicated in peddling O-Level question papers for the sake of making money and thereby putting the integrity of the examination system into disrepute.

He said the students have since been arrested, taken to court, and are serving their sentences.

Prof Mwenje said examination regulations will be applied to the candidates as Zimsec was committed to upholding the integrity of the Zimbabwe examination system.