The public has a vested interest in examination results because governments spend a sizeable portion of the tax payer's money as some form of investment in education. From the point of view of the public, good results signal a good return on investment. While poor performance of learners is an indication of poor returns on investment. It follows that the media and members of the public should express displeasure when the results are not up to the expected standards. Following the release of the Junior Certificate Examination results by Botswana Examinations Council (BEC), there seems to be a great deal of anxiety amongst members of the public. We all have reasons to be apprehensive as we ruminate over the future with an education system that does not pay dividends. In an examination based curriculum, examinations are some kind of an appraisal of the entire education system hence the performance of learners in an examination is used to ascertain the effectiveness of the public education system. Generally, the performance of learners in public schools has been declining. But the decline was more pronounced at senior secondary school level than at junior certificate level. The BGCSE results would certainly be worse than the JC results. The reasons for the poor performance are not hard to identify. However, I would like to highlight a few salient factors that probably contributed to the poor performance. I would conclude by proposing a possible option that could be followed.
The JC poor results
The 2010-2012 was a period of great apprehension. It was a period characterised by the introduction of new syllabi across subjects, changes in technological innovation, changes in the employer-employee relations and high teacher turn-over.
To an ordinary citizen it is easy to blame the teacher in the classroom for the poor performance of learners. But those in the know would tell you that the dynamics of attaining quality education are far more complex than that. As a matter of fact, other factors could ruin the good teaching that could have been done by a teacher. Teachers derive job satisfaction from their learners' good performance in their final examinations. The three year (2010-2012) period under review was characterised by the following developments and trends in education: Curriculum Development - new syllabi for the different subjects were introduced during the period. Teachers were familiarising themselves with the demands of the new syllabi while at the same time preparing learners for examinations. It was however evident that the teachers were on their own. The In-Service department needed to be put on overdrive as support to teaching staff.
