Mambwe District in Eastern Province has recorded an improvement in Grade Seven (7) examination performance while a drop has been recorded in the grade Nine (9) examination performance.
Meanwhile, about 300 pupils failed to sit for the above examinations despite registering to sit for the same.
Mambwe District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) Rodgers Champemba says the district’s performance at grade seven level moved to position four from five.
He however, said that the improvement was still not satisfactory, and he has called on stakeholders to join efforts in improving the situation.
Mr. Champemba shared that out of the 2,891 pupils who registered to sit for the grade seven exams, only 2,720 managed to sit for the exams, marking 171 absent.
“We had 1,325 boys register to sit for the exams, out of which only 1,260 boys sat for the exams while 65 were absent. For the girls, 1,566 registered, but only 1,460 managed to sit for exams while 106 were absent,” he said.
Mr. Champemba said that 1,060 boys passed with results ranging from division one to three, whereas 200 boys completely failed, adding that 1,114 girls passed while 346 girls completely failed.
Meanwhile, Mr Champemba said the district ranked 11th in performance at grade nine level, from 6th position last year.
Mr. Champemba said 994 boys out of the 1,051 who registered, sat for the examination, adding that 694 obtained certificates while 300 failed.
He added that out of the 950 girls that registered to sit for exams, only 873 sat for the examination, saying out of this number, 546 managed to obtain certificates while 327 failed.
He cited challenges such as early marriages, teen pregnancies, and absenteeism as some of the factors that affected learner progression and academic performance.
The DEBS has since called on parents and guardians to take keen interest in monitoring children’s behaviour and offer them adequate support.
He further pointed out that strategies were being put in place by authorities to tackle issues that were affecting the district’s academic performance
