Exam results announced

Frank Steffen
Yesterday saw the release of the 2023 exam results for the National Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) and the National Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) levels.

Education minister Anna Nghipondoka announced that 40 682 full-time candidates had registered for the national examinations at the Ordinary Level at the end of 2023.

That amounts to 2 663 (7%) more learners than the 38 019 full-time examinees for the year-end exams in 2022 for the same level.

Nghipondoka said candidates wrote their exams at 381 full-time centres as opposed to 363 in the 2022 academic year.

Next steps

As regards the NSSCAS level, the minister remarked: "Although some candidates proceed to tertiary institutions to continue with their education with their NSSCO results, in total, 8 138 full-time and 935 part-time candidates registered for the NSSCAS level for the 2023 national examinations. In total, 132 full-time and 20 part-time centres catered for NSSCAS candidates in 2023."

She noted that the full-time centres increased by 33 centres, whereas the part-time centres dropped to 20 centres.

"As we all know by now, candidates must have obtained a C grade or better in subjects at the Ordinary Level, which are also offered at the NSSCAS level, to progress to Grade 12, advanced subsidiary level."

Top students

The top three NSSCAS-performing learners are Jonathan Louw of the Delta Secondary School in Khomas, Titus Shatimwene of Rukonga Vision School in Kavango East and Findano Haiduwa of Onawa Secondary School in the Omusati Region.

The top three performers at the Ordinary Level are all from the Rukonga Vision School of the town of Divundu in the Kavango East Region: Andreas Shinime, Zelda Kamuhamba and Mbushange Nehemia.

Onawa Secondary School outside Outapi in the Omusati Region is well represented on the top twenty list of successful NSSCAS candidates.

Six of the top students represent the school, while Rukonga Vision School in Divundu and Windhoek Gymnasium in each are represented by three of their learners, who qualified as part of the top 20 NSSCAS performers.

Nghipondoka proudly announced the results, which unfortunately lost their thunder after the results were leaked to a government paper.

Hard work praised

Sanet Steenkamp, the executive director of the education ministry, extended her gratitude to teachers, learners and parents alike for working hard in urban and, especially, remote areas. Steenkamp said the ministry has invested a lot of resources and time into capacity building. She specifically reiterated that AS teachers, who are teaching chemistry, are well trained.

Outcome orientated

The minister also emphasised the ministry’s focus on improving results in the natural science fields.

“Many teacher continued professional development activities took place that were geared towards improving teaching and learning, inter alia, the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) and Cambridge training on practical skills in chemistry, physics, and biology.“

In the case of the O-levels, 11.6% of all written science papers remained "ungraded," denoting a failure (10.9% in 2022).

The average was materially impacted by 27.6% of the mathematics exam papers remaining ungraded; the same applied to 9.2% in chemistry, 10.8% in physics, and 14.3% in biology.

The commerce subject ungraded papers increased from 17.9% in 2022 to 21.7 in 2023.

Social sciences also saw an increase from 15.% in 2022 to 18.1% the following year, while first languages increased from 0.9% to 2.7% and second languages improved a little from 1.9% in 2022 to 1.5% in 2023.

Plan ahead

Learners who now want to plan their next steps can get hold of a provisional (unofficial) certificate and make use of the APS calculator available on the Synergi bot. Simply send a WhatsApp message #EXAMS to the number 264 85 785 6231 and follow the instructions that will be sent to you in return in order to plan the next level of education.

Comments

Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

No comments have been left on this article

Please login to leave a comment

Katima Mulilo: 20° | 36° Rundu: 20° | 37° Eenhana: 22° | 36° Oshakati: 25° | 35° Ruacana: 22° | 36° Tsumeb: 23° | 36° Otjiwarongo: 22° | 35° Omaruru: 23° | 36° Windhoek: 23° | 34° Gobabis: 23° | 35° Henties Bay: 14° | 19° Swakopmund: 14° | 16° Walvis Bay: 13° | 20° Rehoboth: 23° | 35° Mariental: 24° | 38° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 39° Aranos: 28° | 38° Lüderitz: 13° | 25° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 40° Oranjemund: 13° | 21° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 22° | 36° Lubumbashi: 17° | 32° Mbabane: 18° | 31° Maseru: 16° | 32° Antananarivo: 17° | 31° Lilongwe: 22° | 33° Maputo: 23° | 31° Windhoek: 23° | 34° Cape Town: 17° | 27° Durban: 20° | 25° Johannesburg: 19° | 31° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 22° | 33° Harare: 21° | 31° #REF! #REF!