O-Level results: Girls, private schools shine

Dar es Salaam. The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) yesterday released the 2014 Certificate of Secondary Education Examination results showing that performance has improved by 10.08 per cent.

Girls continue to shine, coming first in the list of overall best performers. Private schools dominate the list of best performers and not a single public school appears in the 10 top.

Announcing the results yesterday, Necta Executive Secretary Charles Msonde said 297,365 students registered for the examinations between 3 and 28 November and 196,805--or 68.33 percent--passed the examinations. The grading system has changed from the division system to grade point average or GPA.

Compared to the previous year, the performance in 2014 improved by 10.08 percentage points. In 2013, 235,227 students--or 58.25 percent of those who sat the exams--passed.

Of those who passed last year, 89,845 or 66.61 per cent of girls passed while 106,960 or 69.85 percent of the boys did well. Those who passed at the three top levels--distinction, merit and credit--were 73,832 or 30.72 percent. They comprise 27,991 girls and 45,841 boys. School candidates performed better than private candidates, with 167,643 school candidates excelling--75,950 girls and 91,693 boys.

In 2013, 201,152 school candidates, equivalent to 57.09 percent of all students who sat the exams, passed. This means the performance of school candidates has risen by 12.67 percent in 2014 as opposed to 2013. Some 29,162 private candidates, or 61.12 percent, did well last year compared to 34,075 or 66.23 per cent who passed in 2013.

But 72,667 students--or 30.24 percent of the finalists--failed, among them 34,603 girls and 38,064 boys. The 7,375 students who had distinctions comprised 2,699 girls and 4,676 boys. Some 25,131 others, including 9,102 girls and 16,029 boys, had merit passes and 41,326 students--including 16,190 girls and 25,136 boys-- passed at credit level.

Basic mathematics continues to baffle many students and only 19.58 percent of all students who attempted the subject have passed. But there is glimmer of hope when it comes to the national language as 69.66 students who sat the exam passed, making it the subject most passed.

Kagera’s Kaizirege Secondary School topped the list of best performers followed by Mwanza Alliance and Coast Region’s Marian Boys. Other schools in the list of 10 best performing schools in descending order are St Francis Girls (Mbeya), Abbey (Mtwara), Feza Girls (Dar es Salaam), Canossa (Dar es Salaam), Bethel Sabs Girls (Iringa) Marian Girls (Coast) and Feza Boys (Dar es Salaam).