Grade 12 results slightly better

NAMIBIA has achieved its highest ever number of graded subject entries in the 2011 Grade 12 National Senior School Certificate ordinary level exams, and more than 6 000 full-time and part-time candidates are expected to qualify for university admission.

The previous year only around 3 640 of the 17 255 full-time students who wrote the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) exams qualified for admission to the Polytechnic of Namibia and the University of Namibia.The figure was based on the prerequisite requirement of a C grade at NSSC Ordinary level and a Grade Three at NSSC Higher level.Part-time candidates were excluded because they build up subject credits over a couple of years and usually meet university admission requirements only after a series of examinations.The Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment did not say exactly how many of the 6 000 candidates were part-time.Education Deputy Minister David Namwandi announced the results at a media conference in Windhoek yesterday, saying that the results show an improvement in the percentage of graded entries from 93.1 per cent in 2010 to 93.6 per cent in 2011.The Education Ministry has not provided figures on the number of Grade 12 students who passed or failed, with Namwandi saying that if a subject entry has been graded then it is regarded as having obtained a pass.In the points system, a G represents one point while an A stands for seven points.A total of 41 694 full-time and part-time pupils registered for the Grade 12 NSSC ordinary levels exams, with 20 273 of these registered as full-time candidates and the remaining 21 421 registered as part-time candidates.Namwandi said full-time candidates performed better in all grades compared to 2010, except at the E grade category.’Based on the good performance from Grade A* to Grade D, it is now almost certain that the combination of full-time and part-time candidates who qualify for university admission will surpass 6 000 this year,’ Namwandi said.For the part-time Grade 12 candidates the news was not all good, as their results show a decrease in performance across the whole range of grades from A* to F, a situation which Namwandi regards as ‘worrisome.’The number of individual subjects in which better performance has been recorded has also increased for 2011 compared to 2010, with accounting, business studies, economic, geography and mathematics amongst the 17 subjects.However, biology, computer studies, history and physical science are among a list of 13 subjects in which performance was poorer in 2011 than in 2010. In terms of regional performance, the Erongo Region has maintained its place as the best performing region in the country, with the Kavango Region showing the best improvement as it moved from tenth place in 2010 to third place in 2011.The Khomas Region dropped one place from third in 2010 to fourth in 2011. Another big improver was the Caprivi Region, which moved up six places from twelfth in 2010 to sixth in 2011. The Omaheke Region is one of the worst performers as it dropped from sixth in 2010 to twelfth in 2011 and the Kunene Region retained its ranking of 13th place from 2010. The NSSC ordinary level exam results for Grade 12 will be available from 08h00 today at regional education offices in all 13 regions. Individual statements of results will also be available at schools where the candidates were registered. The results are also available on the websites of the Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment, http://www.dnea.gov.na, and the Ministry of Education, www.moe.gov.na.Candidates can also obtain their results by sending an SMS message to either 2929 or 99099. Candidates should SMS ‘NSCCO’ followed by the surname and name of the candidate, or ‘NSSCO’ followed by their full examination number.

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