By RABECCA CHIPANTA –
SOCIAL media and over enrolment of pupils in public schools have been cited as contributing factors to the poor Grade 12 results announced recently.
The poor Grade 12 results recorded on the Copperbelt Province have raised a number of concerns among various stakeholders, a situation that prompted the provincial administration to hold a stakeholders meeting to ascertain the cause of the problem.
For the past couple of years, the poor Grade 12 results have raised concerns from civil society groups, teacher unions and and parents.
University of Zambia (UNZA) School of Education lecturer Geoffrey Sikazwe says over-enrolment of pupils in Government schools is a major contributing factor to the poor results.
Mr Simfukwe further cited poor monitoring of conduct of teachers by the authorities as another factor contributing to poor pupil results.
“Over enrolment of pupils is one of the problems that can be attributed to poor results; classrooms are crowded and teachers are unable to give individual attention to pupils and as a result, there is less contact time between the teachers and pupils,” he said.
Mr Simfukwe said there is need for standards officers from the ministry of General Education to constantly monitor teachers which he believes would help improve the standards of education in Government schools once it is implemented.
He said monitoring of pupils’ performance should not only be left to teachers but needs concerted efforts from parents as well.
“Pupils are spending very little time on their studies.  They should be proper supervision from teachers by constant monitoring ofhomework.
“Parents should also get involved and show concern on how their children are performing, but unfortunately this is not the case in public schools as compared to private and mission schools,” he said.
He noted that leakage of examination papers comes about due to insufficient preparations by teachers which leaves pupils desperate and hence they can do everything possible to get leaked examination papers. That is not the case in private schools.
Mr Simfukwe said various measures need to be taken to improve on the poor results such as reducing of the teacher- pupil ratio, constant monitoring of teachers and pupils social activities.
A Masala High Scool teacher in Ndola who did not want to be mentioned said three major problems have been noted and are often discussed amongst teaching staff in various schools.
She cited technology and uncontrolled use of mobile phones by pupils as being among the major problems noted by the teachers.
She said despite school pupils not being allowed to use mobile phones in school premises, the underlying problem was that when the pupils went home, they spend more time on social network sites such as Facebook and WhatsApp instead of studying.
She said due to the abuse of the Internet for non-related school work, authorities at one high school were prompted to restrict access to certain Internet sites.
On the issue of leakages, the teacher blamed the mushrooming tuition centers who promise pupils leakages once examinations approach.
“Some of the pupils don’t concentrate when they are in class because they depend on what they are taught and the leaked examination papers they are promised at the tuition centres where they go to study.
“Unfortunately, some parents condone this vice as they even pay for the leaked papers upfront. In some instances they would even approach us (teachers) to help them with get hold of leaked examination papers,” she said.
She said the decline in the pass rate can also be attributed to the stringent measures which have been put in place by the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) to stop cheating among pupils.
She said teachers were in support of measures put in place by the ECZ.
“When we confiscate the so called leaked examination papers which are illegally acquired and we compare with the actual examination papers to see if it they are the same, they have been different especiallyfor the past two years.
“We have also realised that in the past, pupils have been passing extremely well and one would think they are studying or teachers are doing a good job but this was not the case,” she said.
Media Network on Child Rights and Development (MNCRD) executive director Henry Kabwe noted that it is difficult to tell what factors could have led to the poor Grade 12 results on the Copperbelt.
He said the issues raises fundamental questions about the country’s education system.
Mr Kabwe called on the ministry of General Education to consult provincial and district officials to find out some of the good practices taking place in areas where the results are good.
He said some school managers place demands for good results while others are comfortable as long as they get paid.
He said it is important to ensure that the school system is able to assess environmental, economic, social and other factors that could be having an effect on the delivery of education in the country.
Mr Kabwe said the situation raises the question of minimal access to early childhood development and education which starts from home.
He noted that some of the challenges could emanate from economic pressure on parents or uncontrolled access to social media.
He called on Government to consider continuous assessment of pupils at all levels for them to determine how good pupils are in terms of performance.
He said a number of pupils have failed not because they did not master the concepts taught to them but because of family challenges they could have encountered during examinations which affected their performance.
He further noted that the country’s use of English as the language of instruction meant that knowledge of English was the main determinant of whether a pupil had passed or not.
He said that is retrogressive.He said there were a lot of unfulfilled potential that lies untapped because most pupils were limited by being unable to master the English language.
Mr Kabwe called for implementation of an education system that is inspired by research and not focused on passing exams but acquiring knowledge.
He said in such a system, school pupils would be free to participate in democratic governance.
According to General Education Minister John Phiri, Eastern Province recorded the highest Grade 12 school certificate pass rate at 71.01 per cent while Copperbelt had lowest at 43.3 per cent.