Education Minister Douglas Syakalima reported that ALL 449,839 test takers for the grade seven composite exams in 2022 were able to advance to grade eight via automatic advancement.
In other words, the national progression rate is 100%.
However, according to Mr. Syakalima, there has been a decline in the number of candidates receiving grade nine certificates, from 54.43 percent last year to 54.16 this year.
Additionally, he stated that grade seven applicants advancing to grade eight will no longer be subject to automatic progression.
Mr. Syakalima has also indicated that the majority of those who took the tests and those who advanced to the first tier are both female.
When announcing the grades seven and nine results today in Lusaka, Mr. Syakalima stated that his Ministry would keep working to uphold the holding of reliable and comprehensive exams.
“A total of 493,932 candidates entered the 2022 grade seven composite examination, reflecting an increase of 7.86 percent from 457,950 candidates who had entered for the examination in 2021. of the 493,932 candidates who entered the examination, 255,825 (51.79%) were girls and 238,107 (48.21%) were boys, of the 493,932 candidates who entered the examinations, 449,538 candidates representing 91.01 percent sat the 2022 examination. of those who sat the examination, 216,349 (48.13%) were boys and 233,189 (51.87%) were girls. more girls, both in absolute numbers and proportion, entered and sat the examination,” he said.
He claimed that a total of 44,393 applicants were not present, dropping the country’s grade seven absence rate from 10.59 percent in 2021 to 8.99 percent in 2022. As a result, the absenteeism rate fell by 1.60 percentage points in 2022. Since 2020, a drop has been noticed.
According to Mr. Syakalima, out of the 449,538 applicants that took the exam in 2022, 64,008 (14.24%) received a division one, 121,490 (27.03%), 96,356 (21.43%), a division three, and 167,684 (37.30%) received a division four.
“Analysis of the results showed higher proportions of girls than boys obtaining divisions one, two and three, while there was a higher proportion of boys than girls obtaining division four results. The 2022 grade seven national progression rate is 100 percent. this means that all the 449, 839 candidates who sat the 2022 grade 7 composite examination will progress to grade 8, under automatic progression,” he said.
He also announced that the 2022 grade seven candidates are the last to undergo the current grading system, which has no fail grade.
“Effective 2023, the examinations council of Zambia is directed to introduce a fail grade in order to end the automatic progression of leaners from primary to secondary education. candidates who will fail the grade seven examination effective 2023 will have options, including repeating the grade seven examination to enhance quality,” he said.
He stated that a total of 307,301 applicants took the grade nine examination in 2022, a rise of 9.80 percentage points over 2021, when the number of candidates fell by 1.74 percentage points.
According to Mr. Syakalima, the increase of over 10% is significant and can only be explained by the new dawn government’s implementation of free education.
“Of the total candidates entered, 147,366 (47.95 percent) were boys while 159,932 (52.05 percent) were girls. Out of the 307,301 candidates who entered the examination, 284,880 (92.7 percent) sat for the 2022 examination. out of the 284,880 who sat the examination, 136,587 (47.95 percent) were boys and 148,293 (52.05 percent) were girls. the statics show that more girls than boys entered and sat the examination,” he said.
He said of the 284,880 candidates who sat the 2022 examination, 154,304 candidates (54.16%) obtained certificates.
“This represents a marginal decrease of 0.27 percentage points from 54.43 percent in 2021. a total of 104,010 candidates representing 36.51 percent obtained statements. in comparison to 2021, the number of candidates that obtained statements in 2022 decreased by 2.03 percentage points from 38.54 percent. The 2022 grade 10 national progression rate is 54.16 percent, showing a decrease of 0.33 percent from the 54.49 percent attained in 2021,” he said.
He added that all examination fraud has been totally abolished, but expressed regret that there are still businesses that use impersonation, invigilators who are instructors, and other people.
“The 2023 grade eight and 10 classes will open on Monday 9th January, 2023, at the same time with the other grades, but with a grace period of two weeks up to monday, January 23rd, 2023. learners who will not report by 23rd January, 2023 may lose their school places. I hereby strongly appeal to all parents and guardians to adhere to the set dates for opening of schools as learning will commence immediately schools open,” he said.
