Gambia’s basic and secondary education ministry said on Tuesday that the analysis that most people have made on the recent WASSCE results have been reliant on an inaccurate data.
Mohammed Jallow, permanent secretary at the ministry of basic and secondary education, told journalists on Tuesday that the results of grade 12 students in 2018 was better than the previous year.
“There are reports that only 475 candidates passed the WASSCE 2018 examination. This 475 represents the number of candidates with 5 credits including English and Math. The reports being circulated interprets everybody outside this figure as failure,” said Jallow.
“This excludes 1, 629 candidates who have five credits or more with a pass in English or math or both which gives them access to University. 2, 183 candidates have five credits or more in 2018 compared to 1, 656 in 2017.
“Out of the 2, 183 candidates with 5 credits or more, 1, 029 are female. Going by region, 1, 036 candidates are from Region One, 851 from Region Two. We have seen an overall increase across the regions in 2018 compared to 2017. For example, Region Six has increased from 30 candidates with at least 5 credits in 2017 to 76 candidates with at least 5 credits in 2018.
Jallow said the total failures from 2018 exam was 14.9% and the total failures from last year was 21.7.
The number of students who sat for the WASSCE exams in 2018 were 13, 334, which is an increase from 12, 121 in 2017.
This is the first time the ministry is issuing a statement since the results was out.
Several Gambian activists and academics have called for an immediate action to reform the education sector that most said is not addressing the needs of the country.
Jallow said the ministry is also working on efforts towards ensuring that there are capable teachers in all the schools to improve quality of learning in schools.
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