17,424 candidates fail all subjects in 2024 GCE examinations

In the 2024 Grade Nine exams, 7,999 of the 113,193 students who took the exams successfully passed.

Conversely, 17,424 of the 138,084 candidates who sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations failed.

Education Minister, Douglas Siakalima, reported that among the 119,928 candidates registered for the 2024 junior secondary external examination, 51,790 were boys and 68,138 were girls.

Read More: 156,315, out of 291,894 candidates make it to grade 10, representing 0.61% fall against 2022 pass rate

Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka on Monday, Siakalima noted that 113,193 candidates, representing 94.38 percent of those registered, actually sat for the exams.

“Of the 113,193 who sat the examination, 48,839, representing 43.15 percent, were boys, while 64,354, representing 56.85 percent, were girls. Of these, 28,310, representing 25.01 percent, sat for six or more subjects,” he added.

Siakalima also highlighted that of the 113,193 who sat for the exams, 28,310 (25.01 percent) took six or more subjects.

Among these, 7,999 obtained certificates, 15,440 received statements (indicating they passed at least one but less than six subjects), and 4,871 failed all six or more subjects they attempted.

Additionally, 6,735 candidates were absent from the examination, including 2,951 boys and 3,784 girls.

“The 2024 absenteeism rate reduced by 0.79 percent from 6.41 percent in 2023,” Siakalima stated.

Regarding the General Certificate of Education (GCE) results, a total of 149,920 candidates entered for the examination. Of these, 32.29 percent (48,415) were male, while 67.71 percent (101,505) were female.

Siakalima reported that 120,660 candidates passed at least one subject, while 17,424 failed all subjects.

“Out of the 138,084 that sat the examination, 120,660 representing 87.38 percent passed in at least one subject, while 17,424 failed all the subjects they sat for,” he stressed.

Furthermore, Siakalima added that all examiners were paid in full and that the examinations were marked in one month for the first time.

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