Beginning from next academic year, all pupils and students will be required to sit for standardised end of year exams, according to the Ministry of Education.

This means that districts will be responsible for setting uniform examinations for each class.

However, schools will be required to continue setting their mid and end of term examinations.

The Minister of State in charge of Primary and Secondary Education, Isaac Munyakazi, said that: "We are requesting districts to deliver (end of year) tests to students. This will help us to rank schools and identify the gaps in the education system and extend support to those that need it.”

The new arrangement, he said, will improve the quality of education and improve the way P.6, S.3 and S.6 candidates prepare for their national examinations.

"We want students to get ready for their national examinations as early as possible. We don’t want them to be unprepared,” he said.

Ezebius Rugasire, the Headmaster of G.S Kicukiro, said schools welcomed the move.

"If it is prepared well, it will be a valuable addition to the quality of education,” he said.

Kicukiro District has long been implementing a similar programme where P.6 and S.3 students in schools that are based in the district are given uniform mock tests before they sit for their national examinations.

"When students complete a particular lesson or programme depending on the curriculum, preparing a general test is a form of  reminder for some schools that still lag behind to expedite coverage of the syllabus,” he said.

Alice Uwimana, a S.3 student at G.S Murambi in Karongi District, said that sometimes students perform well in class but end up failing national examinations.

"There are many schools where students perform well in class but when it comes to national exams, they obtain poor grades. I think giving us these exams every year will help us to know where we stand in terms of the whole curriculum, not only within our schools,” she said.

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