In her committee of supply speech last Thursday, the Minister of Education, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said that at primary schools, the Standard Eight pass level has gradually declined from 72.9 percent in 2007 to 69.8 percent in 2008 and 68.2 percent in 2009. The pass level at junior secondary certificate examinations remained constant at 75 percent for the same period. In senior secondary - Form Five examinations or BGCSE - the pass level of C and above dropped from 37.53 percent in 2007 to 34.75 percent in 2009. The results have been showing a steady decline since 2006.
The minister said transition from junior secondary has declined from 57 percent to 54 percent in 2010. The fall is associated with the poor performance of learners in the Junior Certificate Examinations. Before this state of affairs, the transition from junior secondary to senior schools had increased from 49 percent to 66 percent in 2008. The minister said the drop in cumulative performance for the grade C or better could partly be explained by a decline in the quality of work by students in some subjects. She attributed the decline to the fact that the Botswana Examinations Council continues to make minor upward adjustments of standards in subjects such as science, in line with international standards.
