Female candidates outshined their male counterparts in last year’s secondary leaving examinations, according to the results released yesterday by the Ministry of Education.

Speaking during the official release of the results at the ministry’s headquarters, Eugene Mutimura, the Minister for Education, announced that girls performed better than boys.

Girls recorded a general pass rate of 93.2 per cent while boys compared to 86.5 per cent recorded by boys.

Overall, the general pass rate was 89.5 per cent, representing a 1.27 per cent increase compared to the 2018 performance.

Alphonse Sebaganwa, the Head of Examinations, Selections and Assessment department at Rwanda Education Board (REB), highlighted that girls showed a major improvement compared to last year’s performance. 

"This shows an improvement amongst female students, after they outscore male students who had performed better last year.”

Notable performance

Mutimura said that on top of the increased performance, last year’s exams returned more impressive achievements. He said the results are notable given that it was the second set of exams set under the competency-based curriculum.

"Last year, there were more students registered for exams, the number of girls who performed well in STEM subjects increased, among other factors” he said.

This, the minister added, offers the ministry an opportunity to improve the gaps in the sector, including increasing training materials as well as upgrading the infrastructure to be able to reach more students.

"The objective is to increasing improve the quality of education and skills obtained by graduates to be able to excel in the labour market,” he pointed out.

Certificates in house printing

Sebaganwa also confirmed that, for the second time, students who completed A-Level will receive their certificates within three months after the release of the results.

Previously, students used to wait for up to two years before receiving their certificates.

The waiting period reduced when Rwanda Education Board started printing certificates from Rwanda.

Best performers excited

Best performers were overjoyed and attributed their good grades to hard work, parents and teachers’ motivation as well as teamwork.

Marie Iphigenie Bera, from Gashora Girls School, the best performer in Math, Physics and Geography, said her dream is to become an Energy Analyst or Mechanical Engineer.

"This achievement is dedicated to many people that have been part of my journey; God the almighty who answered my prayers, my family, friends, teachers, among others,” she reiterated.