BULAWAYO – The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) on Friday released the 2021 Grade 7 results as the ministry of primary and secondary education announced that Form 1 classes would open on February 14.
Schools for all other classes except Form 1 and Lower Sixth open for the first term next Monday, on the same day ZIMSEC said the results would be ready for collection.
Parents and pupils should be able to access the results online starting Friday evening, ZIMSEC said.
ZIMSEC said the pass rate improved by 4.02 percent to 41.13 percent, although the number of candidates fell by 0.6 percent from 327,559 in 2020 to 325,573 in 2021.
Of the candidates, 51.3 percent were female and 48.68 percent male.
The drop in candidates was attributable to economic hardships induced by Covid-19 and learner dropout as a result of pregnancies and early marriages and the introduction of Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALAs) “which was not initially positively received by some candidates.”
Explaining the late release of the results, ZIMSEC said this was a result of the exam timetable being moved from its traditional slot in October to December “because of the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions to the school calendar.”
No date has been fixed for the opening of Lower Sixth classes, with the marking of Form 4 exam papers currently in progress.
