NECTA Executive Secretary Dr Joyce Ndalichako.
As Tanzanians, especially parents whose children were allegedly failed by the new grading system, celebrate what transpired on Friday, data from the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) shows that nearly half of the students who sat for Form Four national exams between 2009 and 2012 scored division zero.
The revelation comes amid mixed reactions from some of the lawmakers in Dodoma who said the decision to nullify the results has been taken to hide the truth on the state of education in the country.
According to data analyzed by The Guardian on Sunday, between 2009 and 2012, 1,294,230 students sat for the Form Four National exams, but 590,686 or about half of them scored Division zero.
The data, which are in the public domain paint a gloomy picture about the education system in the country, contrary to what many have been made to believe that the mass failures were mainly caused by the introduction of the new grading system called Fixed Grade Ranges (FGR) introduced by NECTA for the first time last year.
Announcing the government decision to nullify results in Parliament, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs) William Lukuvi said, the committee formed by the Prime Minister to investigate the reasons behind such massive failures learnt that NECTA used a new system called Fixed Grade Ranges (FGR) in grading students’ performance.
The government announcement came only four days after the inquiry committee led by Prof Sifuni Mchome tabled its preliminary report of findings to the cabinet in Dodoma.
But, according to the data, the mass failures were a time bomb that started in 2010, which subsequently exploded in 2012, causing a public outcry.
For instance, between 2009 and 2010, the number of Form Four students who scored zero Division rose dramatically by 265 percent, reaching 174,407 -- up from 65,708 recorded in the previous year.
In 2009, some 238,581 students sat for the Form Four National examination, and 65,708 or 26.46 percent of them scored zero Division.
But in 2010, 174,407 students or 50 percent from a total 351,598 students who sat for the National examination scored zero Division.
While the number of Form Four students who sat for national exams in 2010 grew by 113,017 or 47 percent to reach 351, 598 -- up from 238, 581 recorded in 2009 -- those who scored division zero increased by a whopping 265 percent, reaching 174,407 students.
But there was peace. There wasn’t any big fuss or resignation calls from the opposition leaders, despite the fact that the 2010 results were a serious scourge to a country that plans to achieve Vision 2025.
Between 2009 and 2011, NECTA used the traditional system to grade the final results for Form Four exams.
According to in-depth analysis of the NECTA’s data conducted by the Guardian on Sunday between 2009 and 2012 the average of those who scored zero Division was 45.64 percent.
The average of those who scored first Division was 1.2 percent, the lowest in our history compared to the massive increment of students, schools and budget allocated to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Trainings.
Giving statistics in the Parliament on Friday, Minister Lukuvi said from 1961 to 2001 the number of primary school pupils increased from 486,470 to 4,875,764; but for the period between 2001 and 2012 the number of primary school pupils increased from 4,875,764 to 8,247,472.
Secondary school students also increased from 11,832 during independence (1961) to 289,699 in 2001 but the country experienced a drastic increase from 289,699 students in 2001 to 1,884,270 in 2012.
Minister Lukuvi attributed such a drastic increase of pupils and students in schools to various educational programmes implemented by the government such as Primary Educational Development Programme (PEDP) and Secondary Educational Development Programme (SEDP).
But one thing that didn’t match with such huge increase was quality of education and the number of skilled teachers required for both primary and secondary schools in the country.
On top of this was lack of teaching materials especially in the mushroomed Ward’s secondary schools, casting a bleak future to the country’s education system.
A senior official from NECTA who spoke under the conditions of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the matter said, “We may have erred in grading system, but the problem is bigger than what you are told…NECTA is just one part of the story.
Efforts to get the reactions from NECTA’s Executive Secretary Dr Joyce Ndalichako failed after her phone kept ringing almost the whole day without being answered.
Meanwhile a day after the government nullified the Form Four results for all students who sat for the national examination last year, Nominated MP James Mbatia has rubbished the move as an attempt to “hide the truth” about the state of education in the country.
Speaking in Dodoma during the morning Bunge session yesterday, Mbatia -- who has been vocal against the country’s deteriorating state of education -- said the decision was aimed at satisfying students, parents, teachers and other educational stakeholders that a huge number of students had passed the exam while the quality remained appalling.
He said the prime reason given by the taskforce of inquiry that the massive failures resulted from changes in the grading system was simply a scapegoat. He said by asking the National Examination Council of Tanzania ( NECTA) to grade the examination results using the traditional National Mean Difference (NMD) the government was seeking quantity instead of quality.
He said the only way to find a lasting solution to the ailing education system was to form a commission that would investigate the matter and come up with recommendations on how to save the nation, arguing that placing the burden on NECTA would not help resolve the problems because the education crisis was a result of a number of factors, including absence of an explicit education curriculum and poor educational environment.
He urged the government to accept the problem and throw its weight behind efforts aimed at seeking solutions instead of jumping into conclusions that do not help.
The legislator also said that politicians should desist from making decisions on technical matters. However, he said “something fishy” could have occurred at NECTA and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training over the former’s decision to use the new system – Fixed Grade Ranges ( FGR) in grading students’ performance. Mbatia said MPs should join hands and press for the formation of a special commission or parliamentary select committee to investigate the problem and come up with workable solutions.
Deputy Energy and Minerals Minister George Simbachawene supported the government’s decision, saying it would restore justice to the students.
He said under it would be unfair – under normal circumstances -- to prepare a new grading system about a month before the examination date while knowing that students were not prepared to be examined under such a new grading system.
Citing an example of whatb he described as an unfair grading system, Simbachawene said while the pass mark ‘F’ for a subject has always ranged between 0 zero and 20, NECTA ranged it between 0-34 in last year’s examination.
While pass mark ‘D’ in previous years was ranged between 21 and 40, the examining body last year slotted it at between 34 and 39.
While ‘C’ was ranged between 41 and 60 in previous years, NECTA placed it at between 50 and 64 last year.
Pass mark ‘B’ has always been ranged at between 65 and 80 but in last year’s examination the same pass mark was ranged at between 65 and 84; and pass mark ‘A’ in previous years was pegged at between 81 and 100 but in last year’s examination NECTA pegged it at between 85 and 100.
But, Kabwe Zuberi Zitto ( Chadema – Kigoma North) reacted thus: ‘ It is a disaster … this decision kills the nation … I oppose it vehemently.”
Chwaka MP Yahya Kassim Issah agreed, saying he wasn’t comfortable with the government’s decision to nullify the results -- because the move aimed at making even those who failed seem to have passed the examination.
However, he congratulated NECTA for coming up with a strict measurement of students’ performance, adding that the best way was to deal with the real cause of mass failures.
