National secondary sch exams kick off

National examinations for Ordinary and Advanced levels of secondary education will commence this morning and conclude November 23. According to figures from the Rwanda Education Board (REB), 83,920 candidates are registered to sit for the O’level exams compared to 80,093 students who sat last year, representing a 4.8 percent increase. For Advanced level candidates, the number of candidates has increased from 31,734 last year to 33,806 this year.Meanwhile, the number of private students to sit A-level exams has decreased from 7,665 last year to 4,374 this year. Speaking to The New Times, the REB Deputy Director General in charge of Examinations and Accreditation, Emmanuel Muvunyi, said O’ level candidates will sit the exams from 381 centres while 301 centres have been designated for Advanced level exams.He stressed that security has been tightened to minimise cheating. “The exams and materials were dispatched to districts on Sunday and we have held meetings with people in charge of security and exams at all levels,” he said. He added that they have also reviewed regulations governing national examinations and given tips on how to handle examination materials at all centres. “We have strengthened our strategies to tackle cheating as past experiences have shown that cheating is common in secondary candidates” For A level students offering science subjects; chemistry, biology, and physics, 141 centres have been arranged for practical exams, he said. The candidates The New Time talked to in both levels expressed their readiness and optimism ahead of the examinations. However, some of those who are expected to do practical exams said they were not aware of the arrangements made for them adding they have not had enough exercises related to the exams.“We are aware we will sit for practical exams but not really ready as we are for theory. We didn’t have enough practice and we don’t know how the practical exams will be set as we normally revise questions of theoretical exams,” said Clarisse Niyigena, a candidate of Mathematics, Physics and Geography combination at Ecole Secondaire Scientifique in Kigali City.