Nearly 2,000 students miss June ZIMSEC exams amid low pass rates

HARARE — Nearly 2,000 students missed the June 2024 ZIMSEC Ordinary and Advanced Level exams, according to ZIMSEC board chairperson Professor Paul Mapfumo.

Speaking at a press conference in Harare on Tuesday, Mapfumo revealed that out of 32,026 registered O-Level candidates, 1,938 were absent, resulting in a 6% absentee rate.

The overall pass rate was alarmingly low. Only 17 out of 383 candidates who sat for five or more O-Level subjects passed with a Grade C or better, translating to a pass rate of just 4.44%.

At the A-Level, 52 candidates wrote two or more subjects, but only 38 obtained Grade E or better, resulting in a 31.67% pass rate, a sharp drop from last year’s 75.89%.

“This shows an increase of 8,405 candidates which translates to 38.76 percent and the number of school candidates was 825 while 29,263 were private candidates. There was an increase in candidates with special needs from 14 to 38 translating to a 157 percentage increase,” Mapfumo said.

Mapfumo noted a slight increase in O-Level participation, with 30,088 candidates sitting for the exams, an 8,405 candidate increase from last year.

However, A-Level participation decreased significantly, with only 120 out of 144 registered candidates taking the exams, down from 256 in 2023.

He also highlighted an increase in candidates with special needs, from 14 to 38, marking a 157% rise. The results are now available online through the ZIMSEC portal, and printed results can be collected from regional offices.

Ordinary and Advanced Level learners, who do not have a Continuous Assessment Learning Area (CALA) mark, will not get their results even if they have written the theoretical part of the ZIMSEC examinations.

“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s position is that if a candidate does not have a CALA mark, then there will be no results even if the theoretical part of the examination was written,” Mapfumo said.