Private schools JC results worse this year
A report released by Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) this week suggests that students who enrolled with private learning institutions and Botswana Open Universities (BOU) for the 2020 Junior Certificate Examination ( JCE) terribly underperformed in all regions.
Learners who wish to advance to Senior Secondary level after falling off from mainstream schools often opt for purchased education. This is an effort to better their grades and hopefully roll back into the system. However, that will not be the case for many of the 2020 JCE candidates who had resorted to the private schools. The BEC report of student results reveals that in all 10 regions, private learning institutions are bottom placed, with the majority of learners obtaining grade D and below. This is despite the fact that the said institutions had a relatively low number of candidates sitting for their examinations thereby providing a conducive learning environment for both students and teachers as it allows for smooth and easy interactions.
Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) Secretary General Tobokani Rari is equally shocked. “It is a bit surprising because you would expect that pay
ing for one’s education means students would be motivated enough to perform better,” he said. Rari noted that although the said students come in as under performers, the current turnout calls for concern. “We have not really carried out an investigation on what could be leading to such but it is disappointing that whilst they went there to better their grades, they once again go home with a bag full of disappointment,” he said.
He cited the example of Gabane Private School situated in Kweneng District, saying most learners go there hoping that they will leave armed with a colourful certificate of completion but as per the 2020 results, the school had only nine candidates sitting for the exam and out of those, seven obtained grade D while the remaining two got an E.