As the national examination results for primary and O’Level were announced, pupils and students who passed were allocated to different schools. In what have been the first national exams to be conducted since 2019, some 207,730 candidates passed while 105,008 students passed their O’Level exams During the ceremony to announce the results on October 4, the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), shed light on the process of student placement in schools. Here are five things you should know about the process; 1. Performance This is the first criteria for any student who passed, and their performance will determine which school they go to. The best performers have a better chance of making it to the schools they applied for. Certainly, they also stand a chance of going to the best schools. 2. Boarding vs. Day schools Candidates will be allocated to either boarding or day schools, and the capacity that each school has will affect the placement process. “We have more day schools than boarding schools, yet boarding schools attract more applicants,” said Bernard Bahati, the Director General of NESA. In that case, headed, when placing a student in schools we put this into consideration because we cannot allocate many students at a school that cannot accommodate them. Bahati added that good performance is crucial because they will start by allocating the best performing students to the best schools. 3. Proximity of the school Candidates are allocated to schools that are in their districts, or close by. “This especially applies to students who want to be day scholars, we look at where they live and give them a school that is close to their home in order to facilitate them,” Bahati said. 4. Change of allocated school Students can be able to change the school they were placed to, however, they can do so in case they have a concrete reason, which they present to the people in charge. “For example, if a student is sick or has a physical disability that does not allow them to attend the given school, then the parent can present a doctor’s report that proves the student’s condition and then we can be able to change for them,” he added. 5. Districts to oversee all decisions on changing schools NESA has decentralised this service to every district. “Students who wish to change their schools will no longer come to the head offices in Kigali, they will go to their respective district offices, where there is a designated person who will take care of helping through the whole process,” he said. The students who received their exam results will resume studies on October 18, whereas the rest will start on October 11, in line with the school calendar.
