GCE is now equivalent to School Certificate – Syakalima

5th November 2021

Local

Education Minister Douglas Syakalima speaks at the 12th annual Pan African Literacy For All (PALFA) conference at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka on October 19, 2021 - Picture by Tenson Mkhala

Local

Education Minister Douglas Syakalima speaks at the 12th annual Pan African Literacy For All (PALFA) conference at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka on October 19, 2021 - Picture by Tenson Mkhala

MINISTER of Education Douglas Syakalima says the General Certificate of Education (GCE) will only be awarded to a candidate when subjects or grades passed meet the standards for the award of a school certificate.

And Syakalima says out of the 124,171 candidates who sat for the 2021 GCE examination, only 4,496 obtained GCE Certificates.

During a media briefing, Syakalima said the new conditions followed the amendment of the rules for the award of a GCE certificate by the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ).

He said the new rules meant that the GCE obtained from ECZ effective 2021 was a direct equivalent of the School Certificate.

“I wish to inform the public that pursuant to International Standards, the ECZ has amended the rules for the award of the GCE Certificate, with effect from the 2021 GCE examination. Under the new conditions, the General Certificate of Education is only awarded to a candidate when the subjects and grades passed meet the standards for the award of the School Certificate. This means that by implementing the new rules, the General Certificate of Education obtained from the ECZ effective 2021 is a direct equivalent of the School Certificate. Additionally, candidates that sit and pass some subjects during the GCE examination, and fail to meet the new standards for the award of the General Certificate of Education, are awarded a Statement of Results,” Syakalima said.

He said the ministry had recorded an increase of 12.89 percent in the number of candidates who registered for GCE examinations this year.

“A total of 133,470 candidates registered for the examination, reflecting an increase of 12.89 percentages from the 118,225 candidates who had registered for the same examination in 2020. Of the 133,470 registered candidates, 43,254 (32.41%) were male and 90,216 (67.59%) were female; 124,171 (93.03 percent) out of the 133,470 registered candidates, sat for the 2021 GCE examination. This represents a marginal increase of 0.33 percentage points from candidates that sat for the examination in 2020,” Syakalima said.

“A total of 9,299 candidates were absent from the examination, giving a national absenteeism rate of 6.97 percent. This represented a marginal decline of 0.37 percentage points from 7.34 percent in 2020. A higher proportion of males (9.09%) than that of females (5.95%) were absent from the examination. Eastern Province recorded the highest absenteeism rate at 8.40 percent, while North-Western Province recorded the lowest absenteeism rate at 4.37 percent. Out of the 124,171 candidates that sat the examination, 39,323 (31.67%) were male and 84,848 (68.33%) were female. The trend of having more female than male candidates sitting for the GCE examination has continued even this year.”

And Syakalima said out of the 124,171 candidates who sat for the 2021 GCE examination, only 4,496 obtained GCE Certificates, while 102,715 candidates obtained the GCE Statement of Results.

“Out of the 124,171 candidates who sat for the 2021 GCE examination, a total of 4,496 (3.62%) obtained GCE Certificates. Out of the 39,323 males that sat for the examination, 1,618(4.11%) males obtained the GCE Certificate, while out of the 84,848 females that sat for the examination, 2,878 (3.39%) obtained the GCE certificate; A total of 102,715 (82.72%) of candidates that sat for the examination obtained the GCE Statement of Results, comprising 32, 688 males and 70, 027 females,” he said.

“On the other hand, a total of 16,960 candidates failed the 2021 GCE examination, giving a national failure rate of 13.66 percent. The national failure rate has increased from 10.50 percent in 2020. Analysis of performance by subject revealed that the highest percentage mean score was recorded in French at 75.79 percent, while Mathematics recorded the lowest at 18.24 percent.”

Meanwhile, the Education Minister said that were no reported leakages of examination question papers during the 2021 GCE examination.

“I wish to state that there were no reported leakages of examination question papers, during the 2021 GCE examination. It is gratifying that all stakeholders worked together, once again, to ensure that the examinations were conducted leakage free. Commendations go to all those who participated in this process. It is, however, unfortunate that one hundred and three (103) cases of suspected examination malpractice were reported during the conduct of the 2021 GCE examination, majority of them being of impersonation and assistance in nature,” said Syakalima.

“The public is informed that the SMS Result notification system will be available effective Friday 5th November, 2021. E-Statements of Results will also be accessible on ECZ Portal effective Monday 8th November, 2021 at no charge. With these remarks, I hereby declare the 2021 General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) examination results officially released.”