Girls outshine boys in Grade 7 results

Grade Seven results are out and were opened for online viewing yesterday, with Form One selection being done next week and classes starting on Monday, February 14.

This is just a week after almost all the other classes start, with only lower sixth classes delayed until O-level results are out.

Heads can collect results from regional offices on Monday and Form One enrolment will be done of the e-map platform.

Those seeking boarding and day places should register next week between Monday and Friday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Evelyn Ndlovu said in a statement yesterday.

These latest Grade Seven examinations showed an improvement in the pass rate to 41,13 percent from the 37,11 percent with girls hitting 44,55 percent compared to the boys 37,48 percent and most candidates with special needs doing better.

Minister Ndlovu said, in the statement read on her behalf by read by Permanent Secretary Mrs Tumisang Thabela, that parents and guardians who had indicated their wish to enrol their children for boarding places should do so between Monday and Friday next week on the e-map platform, enabling heads of boarding schools to start selecting their Form One pupils.

"Kindly note that the application website is still open for applications and will remain open until the end of the selection period February 11. Parents and guardians should constantly check the application status of their children. The heads of schools will communicate with parents and guardians once their children are selected.

"Parents and guardians are urged to use the five days to enrol their children. Similarly, the enrolment for day scholars will be done during the same period. This process will enable both day and boarders to join the rest of the learners on February 14, 2022," she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the school calendar for the rest of the classes for the year remains unchanged and no school should deviate from it, with the first term starting on February 7 ending 7 April, term 2 running from May 3 to August 4, and the third term from September 5 to December 8.

The opening date for the start of lower six enrolments will be prescribed by the Permanent Secretary immediately after the release of the 2021 Ordinary examination level results, she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the Government will continue to support schools with basic personal protective equipment in a bid to enhance the prevention and management of Covid-19 as well as control its spread not only in schools but among the citizens and the nation at large.

"In light of this, all eligible 16 and 17 years old learners are urged to join the nation's efforts to continue fighting the pandemic through taking advantage of the Government's free vaccination programme. Let us turn our schools into Covid-19 free zones.

"The Ministry advises that the wearing of face masks and washing as well as physical distancing are a must in the fight against Covid-19 at all our schools and learning centres to ensure a safe learning environment for our learners as well as to assure us of uninterrupted and accelerated implementation of teaching and learning activities," she said.

Minister Ndlovu said the ministry remains committed to the provision of quality, affordable, accessible, relevant, equitable, inclusive, and wholesome education for all Zimbabweans.

Zimsec board chairman Professor Eddie Mwenje heads of Schools will be able to collect the results from their regional offices on Monday.

He noted that the results for last year, as was the case with the results for 2020, were later than usual because on both years the examinations were moved from October to December as part of efforts to minimise the disruptions to the school calendar caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.

"The 2021 Grade 7 Examination session recorded a national pass rate of 41,13 percent. This is an increase of 4,02 percent in candidates' performance from last year's pass rate of 37,11 percent."

According to Zimsec girls passed with a 44,55 percent compared to boys 37,48 percent.

Prof Mwenje said the improvement in candidates' performance can be attributed to factors including Government's interventions that led to increased learning time by pupils through the use of alternative teaching and learning strategies.

Prof Mwenje said 325 573 (51,31 percent girls and 48, 68 percent boys) sat for the 2021 exam a 0,6 percent decrease from 327 559 in 2020 with their research attributing factors as economic hardships largely induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, learner dropout as a result of pregnancies and early marriages.

He said other factors included the introduction of continuous assessment learning activities, which was not initially positively received by some candidates.

Prof Mwenje said indigenous languages recorded higher pass rates compared to all other subjects as was the case in 2019 and 2020.

"A total of 379 candidates with special needs sat for a range of subjects from 5 to 6. Of these 248 wrote 6 subjects and 136 passed 6 subjects yielding an overall percentage pass rate of 54,88," he said.

Prof Mwenje said there was general improvement performance by special needs candidates, with those with hard of hearing recording 23,13 percent pass, up from 11,43 percent in 2020.

"Enlarged print candidates recorded 54,84 as compared to 43,86 percent in 2020 and those physically impaired recorded 32,5 percent as compared to 13,53 percent in 2020."

"The visually-impaired candidates (Braille), recorded a decrease in pass rate, from 50 percent in 2020 to 37,1 percent in 2021," he said.