Exemptions

National

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
SOME students have been exempted from sitting national examinations which start today because their classroom hours were interrupted by the recent general election, an official says.
Education Secretary Dr Uke Kombra said the students exempted were from parts of Southern Highlands and Chimbu, who were unable to complete the academic year “and the minimum requirement of the instructional hours to be complied with”.
He said two schools in Chimbu were forced to close, which meant students would have to “repeat” next year.
More than 210,000 students around the country will be sitting for the examinations in grades 8, 10 and 12 this month.
“In Southern Highlands, we have assessed the situation on what kind of decision we should take on the schools due to the aftermath of the election results,” he said.
“We made a decision in consultation with our minister that we will not conduct any exams in the Nipa sub-district of Nipa-Kutubu.”
The students, however, will be allowed to progress to the next grade based on their “internal marks”.
“They must be given a fair chance because they must complete their education,” he said.
“For this reason, we have decided that the Grade 8 students will not sit for the exams but proceed to Grade 9,” he said.
“For Grade 10, a similar decision has been made.
“Those who had done well internally will proceed to Grade 11 in Southern Highlands or elsewhere.
“One reason we had to ensure that students in Grade 8 and Grade 10 can progress is that we will have a backlog of students.”
A total of 210,466 students will sit the national examination this month.
The Grade 10 examination will begin today, with 67,500 students in 302 schools involved.
From next Monday, Grade 12 examinations begin involving 27,966 students in 164 secondary schools.
The Grade 8 examination follows involving 115,000 students in 307 schools.