The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) has released the 2024 Grade 7 results. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education said the national pass rate was 49.01%. This marks a 3.44% improvement from 2023.
The ZIMSEC Results Portal will be accessible starting today, Friday, November 29, at 4 PM via http://zimsec.co.zw. Results can be collected from regional offices beginning December 2.
Announcing the results, ZIMSEC chairperson Paul Mapfumo said a national pass rate of 49.1 percent was recorded, up from 45.57% last year. Said Mapfumo:
A total of 387 429 candidates sat for one to six subjects during the 2024 Grade 7 examinations as compared to 372 603 candidates who sat for the same examination in 2023 showing a 3.98% increase in candidature.
The 2024 Grade 7 Examination session recorded a national pass rate of 49.01% for candidates who sat for six subjects. This is an increase of 3.44% in candidates’ performance from last year’s pass rate of 45.57%.
The increase in pass rate can be attributed to various interventions by the Ministry Primary and Secondary Education in terms of teaching and learning.
All subjects recorded pass rates of above 50% in 2024 with Shona and Physical Education & / cording above 80% respectively as compared to other subjects.
Generally, there was an increase in pass rate in all the subjects except less than one percent decrease in Shona. Xhosa was examined for the first time in 2024 and recorded a pass rate of 72 percent.
Of the 387 429 candidates who sat for the 2024 Grade 7 examination, 199 939 were female. The pass rate for female candidates was 53.68% compared to 43, 99% of males.
In the 2023 examination, female candidates were again doing better than male candidates.
In related news, the Government launched the e-enrolment platform on November 1, 2024, to streamline the allocation of Form One placements for the 2025 academic year.
The Electronic Ministry Application Platform (e-map) allows parents to secure boarding school placements, with the platform set to close on December 31.
Statistics indicate that approximately 400,000 learners sat for the 2024 Grade 7 exams across Zimbabwe.
In an interview with State media, Taungana Ndoro, the Director of Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, advised parents and guardians to avoid being overly selective when choosing schools.
He said making such choices at the last minute can lead to complications, especially if their preferred schools do not have available spaces. Said Ndoro:
Yes, boarding places have increased as we now have over 11,000 schools nationally. Parents that decline schools thinking their children will be selected at another preferred school usually only have themselves to blame, as boarding vacancies are not guaranteed everywhere because your child passed with flying colours.
Our clarion call is parents must take up the school that offers them a vacancy because if they decline, there are no guarantees of boarding vacancies from their first priority school.
The e-map system allows parents to select up to five boarding schools where they wish their children to attend.
The platform was introduced in 2016 and was designed to promote transparency in the recruitment process for Form One learners into boarding schools.
Before that, some learners were unfairly excluded from enrolment. This was due to unscrupulous school heads who profited from conducting paid entrance tests for numerous students, despite having limited vacancies.
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