By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
Girls in Gambian upper basic schools that registered for the 2022 Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE) have outperformed their male counterparts in the examination, per the analysis presented by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education at a press conference held today, September 29.
According to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Luis Moses Gomez, the West African Examination Council (WAEC), released the results on the 24th of September.
The PS said the result analysis by the ministry does not only look at the number of aggregate 6 students but, moreover, the regional dynamics to know regions doing well as the gender side of it.
The analysis showed that 27,783 registered for the examination but only 27,018 sat for the examination, at least for one subject.
Out of the 27,018 reported to have sat for the examination, 13,424 students scored an aggregate of 6 to 42. Of the 13,424 with an aggregate of six to forty-two, 5,567 are boys while girls have a margin of 1501 above boys with a total number of 7068 passes.
West Coast Region (Region 2) has more students with a pass at the regional level with 6,760, followed by Region 1 with 3,684 passes.
Reacting to the results, Kalifa Jabbie, a teacher who has taught almost all levels of the country’s basic education sector, outlined that he is not startled by the increase in the performance of girls in GABECE. Mr. Jabbie claimed that there has been a dramatic reversal in the rendition and inclusion of girl education.
“There has been a dramatic paradigm shift in the performance and inclusion of girls in education. Since the introduction of platforms for girls’ education, there have been a lot of advocacy groups within and outside the country which leads to the results we are seeing today,” he commented.
Number of Students With A Pass in Core Subjects
There has been a decrease in the number of students with a pass in the English Language and Science compared to 2021, while an increase in passes in Math and SES has been registered.
Out of the 27018 students who sat for the examination, 13,662 have passed in English, 10, 239 in Math, 13614 in Science and 16,556 in SES.
Aggregate 6 By Gender
The number of students with aggregate six has increased from 19 in 2021 to 31 in 2022. Out of the 31 students reported to have aggregate six, 18 are girls and 13 are boys. Compared to 2021, the number of girls with aggregate six has jumped from 7 to 18 while boys moved from 12 in 2021 to 13 in 2022.
A total of 19 schools produced aggregate six. Ten are private schools and nine are public schools. Gambia Methodist Academy and Don Mcmath Foundation Upper Basic School have four students each with aggregate six.
According to Kalifa Jabbie, the performance of the students is commendable, but questioned the post-grade performance of the students with good results.
“This is commendable, but how many of those that produce these remarkable results come from the rural areas will remain the million-dollar question. There’s clearly still a disparity between the rural areas and those in the urban areas in terms of performance as a result of lack of enough resources in the rural areas,” he asserted.
