Between July and September every year, most candidates in primary, secondary and vocational schools across the country sit for mock examinations. Despite being done a few months to the final national examinations, there’s usually a tendency by many students to treat mocks as just any other exam. However, experts say any person who looks down upon the mock exam is like a driver who deliberately ignores the road signs ahead.    

Essence of mock exams

Theophile Habiyambere, a mathematics teacher and director of studies at Gashora Girls School, says mocks are a good way to assess the readiness of the learners for the final exams.

"While marking mock exams, it is easy to find out what areas give students hard time and work on improving them. By the time they do their final exams three or four months later, students are in a better position to pass well,” Habiyambere explains.

He, however, adds that in most cases mock results rarely differ much from final exams.

"When one fails mocks, it is likely that they will also fail the finals unless they work extremely hard in the remaining few months. For example last year during the mocks, only 5 students out of 53 scored over 85 per cent in mathematics. But the final results also were not that different as only 3 students managed an A,” Habiyambere adds.

Ronald Wandira, a history teacher at Riviera High School, shares a similar view.

"Last year in my former school, 20 students out of 31 scored distinctions in history in mocks. In the final exams, we got only one additional distinction making it 21,” Wandira explains.

Mark Kasawuli, the director of Home Disney School in Kicukiro, argues that besides the academic aspect, mock exams help identify a number errors that students would have otherwise made in the finals.

"Most students have a tendency of panicking and in the process forget to write their names or index numbers so if it happens during mock exams, it can be fixed before the final exams,” Kasawuli says.

He explains that because mocks are generally harder than the usual school exams, complacent students are usually forced to wake up from their slumber after discovering that things are not as easy as they had thought. This at the end pays off.

"The fact that mocks are set by teachers from different schools also exposes students to setting formats. This either pushes them to work harder or boosts their confidence,” Kasawuli adds. 

Louis Sinamenye, a geography teacher at GS Catholic de Butare, acknowledges the importance of mock exams but warns that only students who continue to burn the midnight candle regardless of their performance stand a high chance of passing the national exams.

"If you perform well in your mocks, you must remain focused. Only then can you answer all the questions satisfactorily in time and excel in the final exams,” Sinamenye says.

Mocks in TVET Schools

However mock exams are not only done in primary and secondary schools but also in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools through their body, Technical and Vocational Schools Association (TEVSA).

Jean Marie Nzabamwita, the headmaster of ADB Nyarutarama and the chairman of TEVSA, says mocks at vocational level are prepared at different Centres of Excellency depending on the course.

Nzabamwita explains that each school sets an exam and sends it to the main centre (school of excellency).

"It is from these exams that the best four are picked before compiling the final mock paper,” he says, adding that mocks help students who were lagging behind to pull up their socks.

"Sometimes students may not have covered certain topics so when questions are set from these areas, they are pushed to cover the remaining fields. This largely benefits the students,” he says.

Students voice out their expectations

Most students agree that mocks are indeed very helpful and must be maintained.

Emmenance Kayitesi, a senior 3 student at GS Mata in Muhanga, says mock exams teach them how to cope with pressure that comes with the final exams.

"Much as I can’t wait to do my final exams, it would be suicidal to sit for them before undergoing a similar experience. Mock exams refresh your memory and boost your confidence,” Kayitesi says.

Timothy Habimana, a student at Ecole Technique de Gisenyi, says his interest is to see what students in other schools have studied so that he can gauge whether they are on the same page with them or not. And only mocks offer him such an opportunity since they are jointly set by teachers from various schools.

For Clementine Uwamurera, a senior six student at GS Catholique de Butare, only mocks seem to have the key to her success. "I am hopeful that once I finish my mocks I will be able to identify my weak areas and improve them before sitting for the final papers,” Uwamurera explains.

Role of Rwanda Education Board (REB)Janvier Ismael Gasana, the director general of REB, says although they encourage schools to do mock exams towards the national exams, REB does not set or supervise the exams.

He says apart from REB playing an advisory role, everything else about mocks is decentralized to the district level.

"Much as schools would want to test their students several times, we always advise them to issue mocks once in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure,” Gasana explains.

Are mock exams really important?

Celestine Munabandi

It is necessary to learn how to cope with pressure that usually comes with national exams. The only way to do that is by doing mock exams. Mocks also help a student revise more seriously hence reaping big in the final exams.

Ephrem Karanganwa

I think mocks help students relax because they discover that they are not so different from what they are used to. If students went direct into the national exams, they would most likely be too nervous. If a learner is afraid of an exam, it means they can easily make avoidable but costly errors.

Fabrice Kwizera

The way we prepare for mocks is the same way we prepare for national exams. If one has revised widely for mocks, they won’t have to struggle a lot towards the national papers. I actually wish we could do more exams towards the end.

Jean Piere Uwamurera

Students often have many distractions from their friends, phones and television among others. But when these interschool exams (mocks) approach, they realise that time for jokes is over and get more serious. That is the advantage of mocks.

Nehemy Mugisha

Mocks are necessary because they help students gauge how prepared they are for the final examinations. After knowing the weak areas, a student then focuses on improving them. This builds their confidence for the national exams. I think they should be done early in second term to allow for enough preparation.

Samuel Isano

My mock exams in primary turned out to be harder than I had expected so I was prompted to put in much more effort than usual. Fortunately, my sacrifice paid off in the final exams. Hadn’t we done mocks, I doubt whether I would have performed very well in the final exams.