BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE– An improvement in the pass rate of pupils who sat for the 2024 Junior Certificate (JC) examinations has been noted when compared to those who sat for the same examinations last year.
According to Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo, there has been a national JC pass rate of 83.15 percent when compared to the 2023 national JC pass rate of 82.01 percent. Minister Nxumalo said this today, Monday, December 23, 2024 when releasing the JC results and the Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC) results, commonly known as the Standard Five results.
The minister said 16 776 pupils registered for the 2024 JC results and there were 18 940 entries for the year 2023. According to Nxumalo, this shows a 11.42 percent decline in candidature in 2024, when comparing with last year. However, there was a decrease of pupils who actually sat for the 2024 JC examinations, when compared with those that registered for the examinations.
A total of 16 513 candidates sat for the examinations, while in 2023, 18 559 sat for the examinations. Candidates who were absent in 2024 were 356, while those who were absent in 2023 were 520. Pupils who get merit passes in 2024 were 699, showing a percentage decrease of 0.59 percent, when compared to last year.
The minister said 1 665 candidates attained first class passes in 2024, showing a decrease of 0.78 percent when compared to 2023. The number of second class passes also decreased by 3.33 percent when compared to last year, as 8 732 received second class passes this year, while there were 9 207 second class passes in 2023.
Third class passes were 2 625 in 2024, while 3 325 candidates got third class passes last year, showing a decrease of 1.7 percent when comparing the two sets of pupils. Those who did not make it in 2024 were 2 782, while in 2023, they were 3 340, indicating a decrease by 1.14 percent. Manzini region is at the top when comparing the pass rates of the country’s administrative regions. Manzini got 84.81 percent pass rate, while Hhohho came second with a pass rate of 83.59 percent. Lubombo came third with a pass rate of 81.45 percent, while Shiselweni came last with a pass rate of 81.29 percent.
