Ministry of General education denounces abolishment of Grade seven exams

1. Going to high school is every child”s right not examination council to decide

   • Just like it’s every person’s right to go University but you have to qualify to enter the University. Let’s not promote laziness. It’s better children develop a hard working attitude at an early stage. If you want to have grade nines who can’t read, then you should advocate for the abolishment of grade seven exams. What encourages children to learn a lot of things is the fear of failing or at least it plays a part. It’s a bad idea to have people go to school for seven years without finding out how much knowledge they’ve gained. Next time you’ll be advocating for the abolition of grade nine and grade twelve exams. I think we need more exams so that children can develop into hardworking and disciplined adults. we need to introduce another exam at say grade four. Zambia cannot afford…

   • THE STANDARD OF EDUCATION HAS DETERIORATED SINCE INDEPENDENCE BECAUSE PRIOR TO THAT PUPILS WOULD NOT ADVANCE TO THE NEXT CLASS WITHOUT PASSING AN EXAM.
     IT IS THE HEIGHT OF FOLLY TO ABOLISH GRADE 7 EXAMS

2. You can not punish an 11 Year old child by labelling him/her a failure. There should be a way of correcting this scenario. 11 Year olds are tormentated with these exams as they always want to do extra by going to tuitions. A better way is around the corner surely.

   • @don’t care
     COMPARE OUR VERY LOW EDUCATION STANDARDS WITH THOSE OF KENYA AND ZIMBABWE AND YOU WILL *START CARING AND LEARN TO SPELL.

   • What’s in the comments above that I should pay attention to. I’ve just detailed the evolution of our education system. I’ve never been to those countries so I wouldn’t know there standards.

3. During my mother’s time you had to pass Substandard B or grade 2 to go to standard 1 or grade 3. In my time this was abolished but you still had to pass standard 2 or grade 4 to enter upper school or grade 5, then you had to pass standard 4 to go to standard 5 or grade 7. You then had to go to standard 6 before sitting for secondary. In 1964 the government abolished all these roadblocks including standard 6 so you could sit for secondary selection at standard 5 or grade 7. You sat for two exams at grade 7 one for certification another one for selection. If these changes were made why can’t we make changes to the current system.

   • @Ndanje …
     SEE MY COMMENTS ABOVE

4. Please let grade 7 exams continue

5. Examinations should actually be commenced at Grade 4!

6. Good response from ministry of general education. Don’t allow these lazy individuals to turn our children into dull cadres. School keeps children busy. What’s the point of taking a child to a grade where they’ll not be able to understand what is being taught? It’s actually a good idea to asses the children’s abilities very early so that you correct issues at an early stage rather than realizing that you have a problem when the child is already twelve years old. It becomes a problem correcting wrongs when a child has already grown and started smoking marijuana especially in the case of boys. The person advocating for this was probably a spoiled brat who could not understand why he was going to school instead of having fun.

7. How about failing grade XII and then going to Cuba to become a doctor?

8. #7 You are crazy bwana. I always thot every child should have basic education upto grade 9. But surely not in the manner of abolishing g7. After reading comments above I think grade 4 should right exams before going to upper primary

9. The standard of education has become pathetic hence the proliferation of “tuition” which was unknown in my day. I did Cambridge School Certificate in 1964 and then A levels at Munali when it was Munali.
   Exams at every level are an essential bar to enhance the notion that in life we are tested all the time to attain excellence.

10. Very good response from the ministry. Why is this an issue all of a sudden? Lobby for government to improve learning conditions for pupils not encouraging laziness in pupils. Rwanda has introduced free meals in government schools which has seen private schools in that country losing numbers of enrollments. Thats progressive thinking. At a time when the country is producing so called grade 12s who cant express themselves or write properly,we need more exams to prepare these children for their future. Because of the many examination points in the past, a form 2 could speak and write better than the grade 12 of today and you want to make it even easier for them?Thats not caring for them…

    • Well put, @ FDD FOR 2021
      I am very sceptical though about FDD’s chances in 2021 when you look at past performances.
      PF will still carry the day because of its national appeal and incumbency. Good luck though.

11. Grade 7s exams are vital for selection purposes not for certification. No one asks for grade seven certificates. But with the current numbers of learners. its a necessary evil.

12. I think NAQUEZ were not thinking straight. Lessons learnt from nature dictate that everything has time to nurture. A baby must learn to crawl, stand and walk. It can’t just be born and start walking, no ways. Equally, a river doesn’t become a lake there and then. It starts from somewhere, then flows down the course of nature until it finds a land mass and water gathers to make a lake or ocean. Similarly, a child has to pass through the educational hurdles of grade 7, grade 9 and 12 then graduate to tertiary education- those are the principle stages and we can’t circumvent that at the altar of expediency for some people. No one should tamper with those set standards, period!

13. Never advertise the abolition of grade seven exams.

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