Once again, Shakawe comes last

Baboki Kayawe | Thursday February 26, 2015 17:26

According to the Botswana Examinations Council (BEC), the controversial school recorded the lowest performance at 6.99 percent.  In 2013, the inaugural batch of students who started off on the wrong footing, also sat at the bottom of the BGCSE list.  The school has had problems ranging from infrastructural defects and shortage of water.  Students also had to contend with an unfavourable learning environment due to inadequate facilities such as science laboratories and an empty library among others issues.   

At the time, more than 600 students at the school sat for the BGCSE, but only 29 did well enough to be absorbed into tertiary institutions.   A special dispensation was then made to allow the failed students to re-sit their exams at the end of the year at the insistence of the area Member of Parliament, Balalatia Arone.  The ministry announced then that 571 students were expected to be admitted to the boarding schools at Good Hope, Gantsi, Madiba, Maun and Shakawe in September to repeat their Form 4, and will re-sit their Form 5 exams in October 2015.

The BEC results summary report indicated that apart from Shakawe SSS, Shashe River School and Mmadinare SSS experienced the greatest decline in performance. Other declined schools included Lobatse SSS, Moshupa SSS, Naledi SSS, Matshekge Hill SSS, and Good Hope SSS. 

Perhaps on the positive side, five schools saw an improvement of less than two percent in the proportion of candidates awarded 5Cs or better, according to BEC.   These schools are Gaborone SSS, Francistown SSS, Shoshong SSS, Masunga SSS, and Nata SSS.   However, 11 schools showed significant decline of about two percent in the proportion of candidates who obtained 5Cs or better. 

The schools are Good Hope, Mogoditshane, Mmadinare, Ghanzi, Matshekge, Naledi, Moshupa, Lobatse, Shashe, St. Joseph’s College and Moeng College.  The BEC further stated that a decrease of 1.07 percent in the percentage of candidates who were awarded 5Cs or better was observed in 2014 compared to 2013.  The following schools have significantly improved their performance from last year; Mater Spei College, Gaborone SSS, Masunga SSS, Nata SSS, and Francistown SSS, BEC said.

 The total number of candidates increased by 9.73 percent from 3,069 in 2013 to 37,384 in 2014.  The increase is largely attributable to Back-to-School candidates, whose numbers increased significantly.