EDITORIAL: Girls’ exam performance smashes old stereotypes

Two stark realities stand out from the results of last year’s Form Two Secondary Education Examinations (FTSEE) and the Standard Four National Assessment (SFNA). In both the FTSEE and SFNA, the girls dominated the Top 10 slots.

Out of the 410,519 candidates who sat the FTSEE, the Top 10 list comprised nine girls and in the SFNA Top 10 candidates, eight were girls who managed to beat over 1,007,776 contenders. It goes to show that if empowered, females can outshine males by a wide margin, contrary to old notions on “natural male superiority”.

To sustain this, learning environment for girls has to be conducive at all levels. The classroom settings, sanitation, safety and attitudes at home play a big role when it comes to the girl-child’s endeavour to seek education.

It is most heartening that our girls have proven that they have what it takes to do well in educational pursuits.

Another glaring fact was that most of the best performers are private schools learners. This should be a wake-up call for the government to improve the quality of teaching and learning in public schools. At the policy level, we have seen one too many education reforms that don’t last long enough for their impact to be felt. The country requires education strategies that allow our children to learn qualitatively, no matter what part of the country they are. It is quite disheartening that nine of the worst performing schools are from one region, namely, Mtwara.

We must appreciate the fact that learners at the poorly performing schools have an equal right to acquire quality education if they are to enjoy equal opportunities for a better life for themselves and their families.  Stakeholders including government and elected leaders, teachers and parents need to come together and look into ways of bettering education performance in Mtwara.