• Rural schools excel
• Slight decline in general performance

KIGALI - Rural schools outperformed city schools in the 2009 A-level examinations announced yesterday by the State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Mathias Harebamungu.

Groupe Scolaire de Janja in Gakenke District came first followed by Groupe Scolaire de Kaduha in the Southern Province while Groupe Scolaire de Mutura came in third place.

According to the examination results, the schools from upcountry also performed better in science subjects during the last academic year, where for the first time, candidates sat for practical science exams.

Speaking at the Rwanda National Examination Council (RNEC) offices, the Minister attributed the high performance of rural schools, which are predominantly public, to the government’s efforts in equipping them with the necessary materials that provided them with a conducive learning environment.

"Government has equipped rural schools as a way of promoting education in the whole country,” Harebamungu said.

City schools that featured in the top ten list in science subjects included Lycee de Kigali, Riviera High School and FAWE Girls’ School.

Gisagara District topped all districts with Rwamagana and Kayonza coming in second and third respectively.
However, in the general performance, 2009 experienced a slight decline with 88.5 percent of the students qualifying for the certificates compared to 88.9 percent the previous year.

The total number of candidate who sat for the 2009 exams was 42,590 from 312 schools countrywide.

The slight decline in performance, according to the minister, was due to the changes in the examination methodology which he said students were not well acquainted with.

"The examining methods changed this year because we want to encourage students to start understanding the lessons and stop the habit of cramming. This new development could have caused the small decline,” he said. 

This year again, boys performed better than girls where 49.2 percent of males who sat qualified A’level certificates compared to 39.3 of the female candidates.

No any exam results were cancelled as a result of malpractice.

Ends