A total of 21,186 primary pupils and 18,369 Ordinary Level candidates, who sat their national exams last year, are set to repeat their respective grades due to poor performance, the Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday September 27.

Overall, 39,555 students came in the ‘Fail’ seventh grading category, and they won’t be allowed to advance to the next level.

Valentine Uwamariya, the Education Minister, said that those who fall under the ‘Fail category’ will have to repeat the school year. "None of them will be allowed to enrol even in private schools, and private schools are urged to admit only students who passed.”

Commenting on the availability of classrooms for those who will repeat, Uwamariya pointed out that they will work closely with the schools to address that.

Previously, the education system favoured automatic promotion for students, but this was later changed as the government looked to developing a merit-based system in a bid to boost education quality.

The development started with the 2020-2021 academic year, and Uwamariya explained that the decision was taken in line with a resolution from the 17th edition of the National Leadership Retreat (Umwiherero).

The automatic or social promotion policy had been rolled out back in 2011 to help promote school enrolment and retention.

But the policy had come under heavy scrutiny in recent years with suggestions that it was detrimental to education quality and ultimately affected the quality of graduates.