By George Sanzila
KATIMA MULILO – Although the Zambezi Region recorded a slight improvement of a 54 percent pass rate from the preceding year’s 53 percent in the Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) examination results, it remained at position six nationally.
In the Grade 12 higher grade results the region maintained its status in the top four best-performing regions. It clinched second spot in last year’s results in the latter grade. The Grade 12 ordinary results are yet to be announced.
An upbeat regional director of education Austin Samupwa who called a press briefing yesterday to applaud his staff noted that although the region slightly increased its pass rate for Grade 10 it maintained its position nationally.
“I applaud our teachers, learners and parents for a job well done. My thanks goes to all for increasing the average pass rate and maintaining the top six spot countrywide. In Grade 12 higher level, the region managed to be in the top four,” boasted Samupwa.
Schools such as Sam Nujoma Combined, Schuckmansburg Combined, Silumbi Combined, Lusu Combined, Masokotwane Combined, Kapani Combined, Caprivi Senior Secondary, Imukusi Combined, Katima Combined, Mbalasinte Combined, Kongola Combined, Mayuni Combined and Singalamwe Combined attained the set minimum benchmark of 65 percent.
Samupwa implored staff to continue dedicating themselves to their profession while ensuring prompt attendance to enquiries in the new academic year.
“In 2014, I noted the regional education staff’s dedication to duty. Many sacrificed weekends and night time to ensure work was done. I encourage this spirit of selflessness to continue in 2015. All school enquiries shall be attended to with urgency in not more than 48 hours after receipt of correspondence,” promised Samupwa.
He noted that a trimester review would be conducted in future to gauge the progress of both teachers and learners. “What is new in our approach to improve academic results is the trimester review. We have dedicated a week in every quarter for serious review of our plans and to look at each teacher and learner’s progress so that we can identify areas of concern early and be able to do remedial work while time is still with us,” said Samupwa.
Another approach according to Samupwa is symposiums for teachers. “We shall have symposia for grades 10 and 12 teachers. The Grade 10 teachers’ symposium will be on 9-13 February 2015, while the Grade 12 teachers’ symposium will be on 23-27 February 2015,” noted Samupwa.
Samupwa bemoaned the lack of librarians in schools as one of the contributing factors to poor performance, adding that his office has already engaged head office to resolve the issue. He however called for the optimal use of existing libraries in the region.
“Part of our challenges is that our schools are without librarians. In this regard, the regional education office is engaging head office. We also wish to engage service point committees to strengthen the use of our libraries and teacher resource centres. This will be done in the first trimester,” noted Samupwa. There are about 52 schools with Grade 10 in Zambezi.