Strive for excellence: Sec

EDUCATION secretary Dr Uke Kombra, pictured, wants students sitting for the national examinations to strive for excellence and to aim for a score of above 50 in all subjects.
“The passing mark is 50. Demonstrate your education all these years had not gone to waste by passing all the subjects.
“The grade 10 and 12 marks from the final examinations will be added to the students’ internal marks. For grade 8 students, their marks will be used for their progression to grade 9,” he added.
Kombra said 66,450 grade 10 students from 328 secondary and high schools would be sitting for the Grade 10 examination.
For the Grade 12 examination, 29,000 students from 185 secondary and national high schools will sit for the Grade 12 examination.
The Grade 8 examination will have 120,000 students from 3,300 primary schools.
Kombra also said that students from schools approved by the Department of Education would sit for the three national examinations.
The examinations will be held in the following order and dates:

• Grade 10 – Lower Secondary School Certificate of Examinations (Oct 7-11);
• Grade 12 – Upper Secondary School Certificate of Examinations (Oct 14-18); and,
• Grade 8 – Certificate of Basic Education Examinations (Oct 21-24).

“All examinations must be conducted at the scheduled times. These times are fixed and cannot be changed.
“All provincial and school administrations together with the Boards of Governors, Councils and Management should ensure that malpractices are free from the examinations,” he said.
“Anyone found cheating should be referred to the police,”
Kombra said teachers who helped students to cheat would be severely dealt with, including deregistration and termination.
“Examinations are very stressful to students. Parents and guardians, teachers and communities, must thus support them,” he added.