More girls than boys write grade 12 exams, as 111,116 obtain school certificates in 2023 examinations,

The Ministry of Education has revealed that about 111, 116 of 163, 408 who sat for the 2023 grade 12 examinations have obtained school certificates.

Minister of Education, Douglas Siakalima, said 166,593 candidates registered for the exams from which 3, 093 were absent.

He made this announcement when he addressed the media in Lusaka on Friday.

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“Further, a total of 48, 893 candidates obtained statements of results,” he stated.

Siakalima addedd that 3,354 candidates failed the examination indicating a decrease of 1.26 percent in the passing rate from 69.29 percent in 2022.

“Of those who sat for the examination, 80,729 (49.40 percent) were boys and 82,679 (50.60 percent) were girls,” he explained.

The minister stated that with a significant increase of 30 percent more than that of the 2022 candidature, the decline was minimal between the 2 years.

“This can be attributed to the interventions the government has put in place, which include teacher recruitment and development, increased monitoring of inspection of schools procurement and distribution education materials, to mention but a few,” he added.

He noted that the number of girls who were entering and sitting for the examination exceeded the number of boys.

Siakalima urged permanent secretaries, directors, senior officers and all others in the Ministry to put in place measures to ensure gender parity was maintained.

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