12,674 only for Grade 11

By DULCIE OREKE
A TOTAL of 39,750 students sat for the Grade 10 examinations last year.
Of this number, 14,079 students were eligible for selection into Grade 11 this year.
Only 12, 674 students who were eligible for selection were selected while 1,405 were not selected.
Education Secretary Dr Musawe Sinabare said the 1,405 eligible students who missed out came from provinces which performed very well and from the private schools.
He said there was no space to cater for all eligible students although provinces such as Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands did well.
“Many students from private schools were not selected due to parents not requesting for their transfer to government schools,” he said.
Sinebare said due to technical reasons, certificates for all exit levels had not been issued and would not be until new blank certificates with security features had been printed and returned to the department in March.
The measurement services branch (MSB) will in the meantime issue a temporary statement of results for all students who have completed grades 10 and 12, which will be valid until April 30.
“The Department of Education is urging institutions to accept students with the original SOR with other accompanying documents as evidence of completing Grade 10 and Grade 12,”he said.
Primary schools in the provinces are urged to produce letters of identification to confirm students for enrolment into Grade 9.
He said comparison of the performances in Grade 8 was not possible until data was received from schools.
The Grade 10 students’ performances were better in every subject than in 2010.
“This is attributed mainly to the fact that 2010 was the first implementation of the new examinations. Similarly, very few students managed to score top marks in all subjects in the new Grade 12 examinations,” Sinebare said.
He said the averages were much lower than in 2010, which was primarily due to the implementation of the new examinations in Grade 12 in 2011.
Grade 11 selection enquiries can be directed to the superintendent of the national high school/secondary schools, Joyce Tepu.
Tertiary selections issues should be forwarded to the Office of Higher Education.
It is understood that MSB will only deal with queries from schools regarding their student results.