By Mustapha Jarju
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) has disclosed during an organised press conference held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Banjul that out of twenty-seven thousand and eighteen (27,018) students who sat the 2022 Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE), only thirty-one (31) students get aggregate 6, out of the total number of candidates across the country came out with aggregate six (6) half of the total candidates across the country pass their exam.
Out of the 31 students who get an aggregate of 6 eighteen (18) are girls while thirteen (13) are boys from 19 schools across the country.
The number of students with an aggregate of 42 or less has increased across all the regions in 2022 with a total of thirteen thousand four hundred and twenty-four (13,424) students with an aggregate of 42 or lesser, compared to 2021 with only twelve thousand three hundred and fifty-four students who were able to grab between aggregate 6 to 42. Nationwide, the total candidate with an aggregate of 42 or less stand at 49.7% compared to 47.2% in 2021, the ministry disclosed.
The total number of students that registered for the GABECE exam across the six (6) regions of the Gambia indicated that in region one (1) 3,684 students have aggregate 42 down to aggregate 6 which shows there is less performance in this region compared to 2021 where 3,861 students got aggregate 42 and lesser than that. While in region two (2) there is a small improvement in the student scores for this year`s GABECE exam with 6,740 compared to 2021, where 5,884 GABECE candidates score an aggregate of 42 and below.
Region three (3) has also improved in the scores with a total of 1,090 score aggregate of 42 and below lesser above the 1, 089 students score in the same exam in 2021. Region four (4) has improved its level of scores in the GABECE with an increment of more than 500 students scoring between aggregate 6 to aggregate 42 in 2022 which is 509 compared to the 386 students who pass the exam in 2021.
While in region five (5), 816 have an aggregate of six to 42 compared to the total of 638 in 2021. In Region six (6) 565 students have an aggregate of 6 to aggregate 42 compared to 458 candidates with scores between an aggregate of 6 to aggregate 42.
Louis Moses Mendy, the permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) said, currently there is no grade 10 yet and all the candidates who sat for the 2022 GABECE exam will start their classes together. “In our plan and our calendar we are expecting by the second week of October the upcoming grade 10s will be settling down in schools to start a business, and students admissions into schools will be starting by next week Monday,” he explained.
West African Examination Council (WAEC) released the GABECE results in files to MOBSE on Saturday 21st September 2022, and the Ministry analyzes the results to detail every subject that was enrolled by the students to know the gaps and see a possible solution to it.
However, the ministry noted that this year`s GABECE exam was delayed due to the conflict in the Southern Casamance region of Senegal which has caused the internal displacement of families within the Fonis due to which the exam cannot be held as earlier proposed.