Maravi

Zulu queries calibre of G7 exam candidates

COMMENT - Perhaps a start would be to stop calling the ability to read and write a 'writing culture'? Tax the mines, and all the money will be available to put all kids through school.

Zulu queries calibre of G7 exam candidates
By Moses Kuwema
Sat 31 Dec. 2011, 13:30 CAT

THE Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) says it is worried about the calibre of pupils going to grade eight because most of them have a poor reading and writing culture.

Commenting on the Grade 7 results where about 284,121 candidates who sat for the examinations last year have been selected to Grade 8 SESTUZ deputy general secretary Emmanuel Zulu said as much as many pupils had been selected, the quality of education seemed to be going down.

"Despite the progression rate being very high, another area which unions I think are getting worried about is the quality of the results. So many pupils could go to Grade 8 but we are seeing a situation where the quality of education seems to be dropping because for us in the secondary school sector, as we receive these pupils. We see a situation where some pupils can hardly read or write. One wonders how they are able to make it to that level when they have such a poor reading or writing culture," Zulu said.

He wondered if that could be a pointer to some examination malpractice.

"We are not sure but it also means that where they are coming from, we have problems in the primary school sector. Do we have enough teachers to teach or are the classrooms over crowded? Do we have enough books, classroom space? These are all pointers that there is much to be done in the education sector if we are to have very good results," he said.

"So we have pupils getting into secondary schools and then proceeding to grade twelve and possibly into tertiary education with very bad reading and writing abilities, so I think a lot more needs to be done."

Zulu hoped that the increased allocation to the education sector in the budget would translate into more schools being built and procurement of furniture.

"There are quite a number of schools that do not have proper furniture. And we need better conditions of service for our members quite a lot of them are working under very difficult conditions and are demotivated, they are not getting what is due to them," said Zulu.

According to the results that were released by the Minister of Education Dr John Phiri on Wednesday, Luapula, North-Western, Western and Central provinces recorded a 100 per cent pass rate.

Labels: EMMANUEL ZULU, EXAMS, SESTUZ

posted by MrK @ 5:01 PM