BabuK
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 30, 2008
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In a move to match the grading system in secondary education to that of higher learning institutions, the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) has introduced the Grade Point Average (GPA) system in evaluating Form Four and Form Six students effective this year and next year respectively.
The system according to the NECTA executive director Dr Charles Msonde who was speaking to editors in Dar es Salaam yesterday, will ease registration exercises conducted by the Tanzania Commission of Universities (TCU) and the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) at higher learning levels.
"It will also have only one system of granting one type of results in all levels of education from primary school to higher education," said Dr Msonde.
He further explained that the GPA system is simple to grasp by many stakeholders of different cadres because it gives translation to results, indicating the candidate who has performed well and who has performed poorly.
Dr. Msonde said the resolve has come after the council decided to stick to the Fixed Grade Ranges system.
From the time the council was established in 1973 to 2013, it has all along used the Total Grading System instead of the Grade Point Average system.
Under the former, the examiners grade the examinee by using the total number of points scored in each subject.
Explaining, he said, under this system the level of pass marks for Forms Four and Six is as follow: A=1, B+=2, B=3, c=4,D=5, E=6 and F=7.
Under this system therefore pass grades are arranged as follows: Division I, II III and IV, while Division I-III defines the points scored by the examinee, Division IV is usually derived by scoring at least two Ds or a C in an entire examination, he explained.
Coupled with the fact that the marking was based on the Flexible Grade Ranges instead of the Fixed Grade Ranges for the respective subject and year, he said, the system drew a lot of complaints, criticism and at times creating confusion among education stakeholders.
Under this latter system, Dr Msonde said, it was not easy to harmonise the system of grading used in the lower schools to that being used in colleges and universities.
Dr Msonde said that with the GPA system, the examinee's scored points are added together and divided by the number of subjects and they are graded in accordance with the pass average pass mark.
Under this system, A=5, B+=4, B=3, C=, D-1, E=0.5 and F=0, where the average score for Distinction for Form Four is 3.6-5 points, while for Form Six it is 3.7-5. As for the Merit grade, the score is 2.6-3.5 for Form Four and 3.0-3.6 for Form Six.
Credit is 1.6-2.5 for Form Four and 01.7-2.9 for Form Six while Pass is 0.3-1.5 for Form IV to 0.7-1.6 for Form Six. Fail is 0.0-0.2 for Form IV and 0.0-0.6 for Form Six, he said.
Besides harmonizing the grading system for all institutions of learning, Dr Msonde said, the GPA system is most useful compared to others in that it facilitates the work of other education institutions in picking students for higher education and it gives a correct translation of the meaning of grading.
Expounding on this aspect, he said that with GPA, the highest point score stands for the best and the lowest stands for the worst contrary to the Total Point Grading system whereby the contrary is the case.
In February this year, NECTA released Form four examination results where girls have outshined boys.
However, the 2013 examination results came with an increased pass rate compared to the 2012 results.
At least 235,227 examinees, equivalent to 58 per cent of candidates who sat for examinations passed compared to the last examinations (2012) where 48 percent attained the pass mark.
Some 74,324 candidates, equivalent to 21.09 per cent, came out with grading from division One to Three. About 47,101 boys and 27,113 girls got were found in divisions One to Three.
Announcing the 2013 results, acting Executive Secretary Dr Charles Msonde said the trend had continued with private schools outperforming public schools in last year's exams.
He said a total of 427,679 candidates registered for the examination where 199,123 (46.56 per cent) were girls and 228,565 (53.44 per cent) were boys.
Some 404,083 candidates, equivalent to 94.48 per cent of the registered candidates, sat for examinations in November last year, while 23, 596 candidates or 5.552 per cent of registered examinees missed the sitting. About 162,412 (96.07%) girls and 190,202 (96.01%) boys sat for the examination.
Another 18,217 among the candidates were registered for exams through a qualifying test, he said.
Dr Msonde, then acting executive secretary, said there were reduced cases of irregularities as only 272 candidates had their results canceled in 2013 compared to 789 cases witnessed in 2012.
However, history shows that more than 65 percent of Tanzanian students failed the 2012 Form Four examinations, the worst result in history, prompting the government to form an ad hoc commission of inquiry.
Only 126,851 candidates passed the examination out of the 397,132 who attempted a mere 43.8 per cent. In 2011, about 53.6 percent passed, and 50.4 percent in 2010.
However, President Jakaya Kikwete tasked Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda to form an inquiry commission to find out whether the meagre results were due to poorly performing teachers, overly technical tests or uncommitted students.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
The system according to the NECTA executive director Dr Charles Msonde who was speaking to editors in Dar es Salaam yesterday, will ease registration exercises conducted by the Tanzania Commission of Universities (TCU) and the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) at higher learning levels.
"It will also have only one system of granting one type of results in all levels of education from primary school to higher education," said Dr Msonde.
He further explained that the GPA system is simple to grasp by many stakeholders of different cadres because it gives translation to results, indicating the candidate who has performed well and who has performed poorly.
Dr. Msonde said the resolve has come after the council decided to stick to the Fixed Grade Ranges system.
From the time the council was established in 1973 to 2013, it has all along used the Total Grading System instead of the Grade Point Average system.
Under the former, the examiners grade the examinee by using the total number of points scored in each subject.
Explaining, he said, under this system the level of pass marks for Forms Four and Six is as follow: A=1, B+=2, B=3, c=4,D=5, E=6 and F=7.
Under this system therefore pass grades are arranged as follows: Division I, II III and IV, while Division I-III defines the points scored by the examinee, Division IV is usually derived by scoring at least two Ds or a C in an entire examination, he explained.
Coupled with the fact that the marking was based on the Flexible Grade Ranges instead of the Fixed Grade Ranges for the respective subject and year, he said, the system drew a lot of complaints, criticism and at times creating confusion among education stakeholders.
Under this latter system, Dr Msonde said, it was not easy to harmonise the system of grading used in the lower schools to that being used in colleges and universities.
Dr Msonde said that with the GPA system, the examinee's scored points are added together and divided by the number of subjects and they are graded in accordance with the pass average pass mark.
Under this system, A=5, B+=4, B=3, C=, D-1, E=0.5 and F=0, where the average score for Distinction for Form Four is 3.6-5 points, while for Form Six it is 3.7-5. As for the Merit grade, the score is 2.6-3.5 for Form Four and 3.0-3.6 for Form Six.
Credit is 1.6-2.5 for Form Four and 01.7-2.9 for Form Six while Pass is 0.3-1.5 for Form IV to 0.7-1.6 for Form Six. Fail is 0.0-0.2 for Form IV and 0.0-0.6 for Form Six, he said.
Besides harmonizing the grading system for all institutions of learning, Dr Msonde said, the GPA system is most useful compared to others in that it facilitates the work of other education institutions in picking students for higher education and it gives a correct translation of the meaning of grading.
Expounding on this aspect, he said that with GPA, the highest point score stands for the best and the lowest stands for the worst contrary to the Total Point Grading system whereby the contrary is the case.
In February this year, NECTA released Form four examination results where girls have outshined boys.
However, the 2013 examination results came with an increased pass rate compared to the 2012 results.
At least 235,227 examinees, equivalent to 58 per cent of candidates who sat for examinations passed compared to the last examinations (2012) where 48 percent attained the pass mark.
Some 74,324 candidates, equivalent to 21.09 per cent, came out with grading from division One to Three. About 47,101 boys and 27,113 girls got were found in divisions One to Three.
Announcing the 2013 results, acting Executive Secretary Dr Charles Msonde said the trend had continued with private schools outperforming public schools in last year's exams.
He said a total of 427,679 candidates registered for the examination where 199,123 (46.56 per cent) were girls and 228,565 (53.44 per cent) were boys.
Some 404,083 candidates, equivalent to 94.48 per cent of the registered candidates, sat for examinations in November last year, while 23, 596 candidates or 5.552 per cent of registered examinees missed the sitting. About 162,412 (96.07%) girls and 190,202 (96.01%) boys sat for the examination.
Another 18,217 among the candidates were registered for exams through a qualifying test, he said.
Dr Msonde, then acting executive secretary, said there were reduced cases of irregularities as only 272 candidates had their results canceled in 2013 compared to 789 cases witnessed in 2012.
However, history shows that more than 65 percent of Tanzanian students failed the 2012 Form Four examinations, the worst result in history, prompting the government to form an ad hoc commission of inquiry.
Only 126,851 candidates passed the examination out of the 397,132 who attempted a mere 43.8 per cent. In 2011, about 53.6 percent passed, and 50.4 percent in 2010.
However, President Jakaya Kikwete tasked Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda to form an inquiry commission to find out whether the meagre results were due to poorly performing teachers, overly technical tests or uncommitted students.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY