Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Philipo Mulugo
Announcing the selection of students joining public schools yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Philipo Mulugo said 33,683 candidates had been selected to join Form Five whereas 43,757 slots were available--a rise of 3,757 over last year’s candidates.
Announcing the selection of students joining public schools yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Philipo Mulugo said 33,683 candidates had been selected to join Form Five whereas 43,757 slots were available--a rise of 3,757 over last year’s candidates.
At a news conference at the ministry’s headquarters, Mr Mulugo said poor performance in the Arts contributed to the low uptake but the sciences had gained ground.
“My ministry will carry out research to determine the reasons for poor performance in Arts subjects that led to the positions remaining vacant,” he added. “This shows that the government’s effort at motivating youth to study science has started to bear fruit.”
Of the 33,683 selected to join high school on July 29, 23,383 were male and 10,300 were female. Another 530 candidates were selected to join training colleges.
The number of selected candidates is an increase of 2,824 (equivalent to nine per cent) over last year’s 30,859 students.
This year, 13,708 male students (equivalent to 58.6 per cent) have been chosen to study the sciences and 9,675 (equivalent to 41.38 percent) will take the Arts. A total of 5,038 female students (about 48.9 per cent) have been chosen to study science subjects while the remaining 5,262 (equivalent to 51 per cent) will pursue the Arts. According to Mr Mulugo, 76 candidates were not selected even though they had passed. Seventy of those in this category lacked subject combinations and others were considered too old, at 35, to enrol for Fifth Form.
Mr Mulugo dismissed fears that the results had come too late, noting that Advanced Level schools were yet to open. “We haven’t delayed,” he explained. “O level students have started classes but Form Five and Form Six students usually open in third week of July.”
The government cancelled the Form Four results after a probe team formed by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda established that there were blunders in the marking of the examinations. In May, the Government announced new results that slightly improved the performance of the students.
Private schools also had to postpone opening for lack of students to join Form Five. Secondary school heads were caught up in the dilemma, with many of them were wondering how to handle the regular schedule when those supposed to join Form Five had yet to enrol.
Announcing the new Form Four results in May, Minister Shukuru Kawambwa said there was a slight increase in the pass rate at 43.8 per cent compared to 34.5 per cent of the results that were nullified.
But Dr Kawambwa admitted that although the newly-graded results indicated a rise in the pass rate, the 2012 performance was still low when compared to the 2011 and 2010 Form Four national examination pass rates, which were 53.6 percent and 50.4 percent.
