In the 2016 results, no candidate has satisfied the requirement for the award of Merit compared to one candidate obtaining Merit the year before, according to the BEC statement. About 28,291 students (67.46%) out of 41,938 who sat for the examination failed the three year JC course by obtaining grades D and below, while 13,647 students (32.54%) out of the same figure are the ones who passed the course.
We continue to see heart-breaking decline in results from Primary and both Junior and Senior Secondary Schools. Parents’ non-participation, unmotivated teachers and delinquency are amongst reasons given as causes for such poor results. As a nation, we should not turn our minds away from any of these and more. Solutions to these problems are not to be provided just once. Parents need to make it their responsibility to do all they can to support their children. As BOSETU rightly argued, looking at the examinations by centres (schools), all schools falling within the top 15 are from urban centres. This brings up a question of whether resources are availed proportionally to all schools, taking into consideration specific needs for producing better results.
