The government has pledged to eliminate the zero per cent pass rate recorded by some schools at the Grade 7 level and is targetting a nearly 100 per cent national pass rate by 2030.
The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) released the 2024 Grade 7 results on Friday, showing a 49.01 per cent pass rate, a notable increase from last year’s 45.57 per cent.
Girls achieved an average pass rate of 53.68 per cent, while boys had a lower rate of 43.99 per cent.
However, some schools recorded zero pass rates, particularly in the Matabeleland region. For instance, three schools in Gwanda District—Zindele, Koodooval, and Driehoek—had zero pass rates.
In Insiza District, schools such as Mbembesi, Zhampale, Tshunkunyane, and Gwatemba also reported zero pass rates.
In Bulilima District, Ndutshwa, Phumuza, and Riverblock scored zero passes.
The same situation occurred in Matabeleland North, affecting schools like Somakantana, Hompane, and Makhasane, as well as others in Lupane, Hwange, Bubi, Tsholotsho, Binga, and Umguza Districts.
In response to questions from the Chronicle about addressing the zero pass rates in mostly rural schools, Director of Communications and Advocacy Taungana Ndoro said that the government plans to allocate more resources to these schools.
This includes providing textbooks, teaching materials, advanced technology, and building science laboratories. Said Ndoro:
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is proud of the Grade 7 examination performance for 2024, which shows that fundamentally we are improving over the last four years.
In 2020 our pass rate was around 37 percent and now 2024 it’s at 49 percent, which is a phenomenal increase of about 12 percent over the last four years, which is very commendable.
We see ourselves going forward increasing our pass rate bridging the 50 percent mark by next year and in the foreseeable future up until 2030 when we should be almost 100 percent.
In terms of the pass rates, the zero percent pass rate, I am sure we have repeatedly said that this is soon going to be a thing of the past.
As I indicated the trends are showing that the pass rate has been increasing over the past four years. So, we know it will be extinct very soon because our strategies are working well.
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