Girls outshine boys in Form 2, Class IV

Dar es Salaam. Girls have taken the lead in last years’ Form Two Secondary Education Examinations (FTSEE) and Standard Four National Assessment (SFNA) results released yesterday by the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta).

According to the executive director of Necta, Dr Charles Msonde, out of the Top 10 SFNA candidates, eight were girls, the equivalent of 80 per cent, while there were only two boys.

He named the 2016 SFNA Top 10 candidates, in descending order (with their schools in brackets) as: Loi Martin Kitundu (Fountain of Joy), James Makoye Charles (St Achileus Kiwanuka Emp), Erica Kundi Massaba (Tusiime), Kazungu Charles Kazungu (Waja Springs), and Lightness Filbert Mpogoro (Waja Springs).

The others are Michelle Stephen Meck (Waja Springs), Mary Gloria Dickson (Waja Springs), Luisa Donasian Aloyce (Waja Springs), Herieth Haruni Waryoba (Twibhoki), and Grace Imori Manga (Twibhoki).

As for the FTSEE Top 10 list, Dr Msonde noted, girls took 90 per cent of the positions. According to Nacte, the Top 10 candidates in 2016 FTSEE are (names in descending order while their schools are in brackets): Teckla Erasmo Haule (Canossa), Joseph Fabian Kalabwe (Kwema Modern), Mirabel Rayner Matowo (Canossa), Hamida A. Kihiyo (St Aloysius Girls) and Rachel D. Sagoja (Heritage).

The others are Clare-Anandra Eric Hamis (Feza Girls), Roselyn Muhidin Kissaka (Feza Girls), Joy Siael Cuthbert Kimambo (Feza Girls), Venastra Ridhwan Mringo (Feza Girls) and Babymaisara Hassan Kimazi (Feza Girls).

Enrollment and attendance

Dr Msonde said a total of 435,075 candidates were registered for FTSEE in 2016 including 221,086 (50.82 per cent) girls and 213,519 (49.18 per cent) boys.

He said, however, that out fo the total registered candidates, only 410,519 (94.36) students sat for the exams whereby 210,345 (95.14 per cent of their total) were girls, and 200,174 (93.54 per cent of their total) were boys. The executive director said 24,556 (5.64 per cent) of the registered students did not sit for FTSEE exams in 2016 due to various reasons including sickness and truancy. Dr Msonde said further that a total of 1,054,191 students were registered to write the Standard Four exams in 2016 including 542,071(51.42 per cent) girls and 512,120 (48.58 per cent) boys.

Out of the total of 1,054, 191 registered students, only 1,017,776 (96.55 per cent) students sat for the SFNA exams.

The Necta boss gave the breakdown of the figures of candidates who sat for the exams as follows: 526,612 (97.15 per cent) girls and 491,164 (95.91 per cent) boys.

He said, a total of 36,415 (3.45 per cent) did not sit for the SFNA exams due to various reasons including sickness and truancy. Among them 15,459 (2.85 per cent) were girls and 20,956 (4.09 per cent) boys.

Private schools shine

The results once again showed private-run schools continuing to outshine public schools in both levels of examinations.

Necta data showed that the top ten places for both Form Two and Standard Four exams went to private schools.

English still a problem

According to the Necta statistics, English was one of the subjects that saw examinees performing poorly in both FTSEE and SFNA exam levels.

“While the performance in Civics, History, Geography, Kiswahili, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Basic Mathematics subjects witnessed an improvement in FTSEE 2016 exams when compared with the 2015 results, the performance of English dropped when compared with those of 2015,” Dr Msonde said.

The results for SFNA showed that pupils performed well in the subjects of Stadi za Kazi (Life Skills), Haiba and Michezo (Personality and Sports) with 94.67 per cent while they their performance in English generally fell as only 72.51 per cent passed.

Cancellation of results

Necta cancelled the results of 31 FTSEE and 58 SFNA examinees respectively after they were caught cheating during examinations.

According to Dr Msonde, the decision was reached based on Section 36 (2) (b) of the Examinations Regulations, 2015, whereby the said candidates will have to repeat the class and write new exams this year.

Also, Dr Msonde urged all respective authorities to take disciplinary action against anyone who, in one way or another, had a role in cheating during the exams.

He said the authorities should apply the relevant laws guiding such conduct.

More efforts on science subjects needed

The FTSEE results show that the performance in Basic Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry were below the average comparing with those of Civics, History, Geography, Kiswahili, English and Biology.

“Deliberate efforts are thus required to be taken in order to raise the performance in these subjects,” said Dr Msonde.