• All the 409,441 candidates who sat for the 2021 Grade 7composite examination will progress to grade 8.
• This is as a result of the robust school infrastructure development.
• Schools to reopen on 24th January 2022 instead of 10th January 2022 due to the upswing in Covid-19 cases

Minister of Education says all the 409,441 candidates who sat for the 2021 Grade 7composite examination will progress to grade 8.
Speaking during a media briefing, Dr. Douglas Syakalima said this is as a result of the robust school infrastructure development where more space at secondary school level has been created.
“Of the 409,441 Candidates who sat for the 2021 grade 7 examination,74,865 obtained Division One,107,167 Division Two,73,504 Division Three and 153,905 Division Four,” he said.
Dr. Syakalima however stated that the Ministry is currently reviewing the policy of automatic progression to grade 8 so that only competent pupils progress to the next level.
He further announced that of the 257,551 candidates who sat for the 2021 grade 9 examinations, 140,338 candidates have obtained certificates representing an increase of about 1.40 percentage points in Performance when compared to the pass rate of 53.09 percent recorded during the 2020 examination.
Dr. Syakalima noted that a total of 99,253 candidates have obtained statement of results while 18,106 candidates completely failed the examinations.
“The 2021 Grade 10 national progression rate is 54.49 percent, an increase of 1.42 percent from the 53.07 percent attained in 2020,” he stated.
Dr. Syakalima revealed that all 140,338 Candidates who have obtained full Grade 9 Certificates have progressed to Grade 10.
He said there were no reported leakages of examination question papers during the conduct of the 2021 Grade 7 Composite and Grade 9 internal examinations.
“However, a total of 13 individual malpractice cases and 48 whole center cases were recorded. The individual cases consisted of smuggling in of foreign materials and submission of two answer scripts for one candidate –essentially assistance, copying and collusion,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Syakalima has announced that schools will reopen on 24th January 2022 instead of 10th January 2022 due to the upswing in Covid-19 cases.