Only 3% of Ethiopian Students Score Above 50% on National Exit Exam

The low number of students who passed the 2014 grade 12 national exit exam in Ethiopia has sparked concern among government officials and education experts. According to a report by local newspaper Addis Maleda, only 28,000 students out of the 980,000 who took the exam scored above 50%. This means that only three percent of the students who took the exam passed, a significant decline from previous years.

The exam, which was administered in a special way in order to prevent cheating and improve the quality of education, was taken by students seeking entrance to the country’s more than 50 universities. The results were released online on January 18, 2015, and it is reported that government officials, including the Prime Minister, have been informed of the low student achievement. The number of students who passed the exam does not match the capacity of the universities to admit students, leading to discussions about alternative solutions such as offering tutoring for students who scored close to passing.

The introduction of the 2014 Class 12 examination by universities was intended to be a solution to the rift in the education system. This was the first practical test system, administered by university teachers, on university campuses away from the students’ learning environment. However, the results have shown that this solution has not been effective in improving the quality of education and preventing cheating.

Ministry of Education data shows that government universities have the capacity to admit more than 130,000 students. This means that the 2014 examinees who scored a passing score are no more than 20% of the admission capacity of the universities. With such a low number of students achieving university entrance results, universities are now looking for alternative ways to accept students according to their capacity.

One of the options being considered is to allow students who have obtained results close to passing to take tutoring and enter the university. It is hoped that this will help to improve the quality of education and prevent cheating in the university entrance exam.

Senior officials of the government have acknowledged that there has been a significant decline in the results of students, and consultations are being held on what to do about the decline in student results. A decision is expected to be made on whether a student who is in line with the university’s ability to be accepted will be able to enter the university.

Students can check their results on the website https://eaes.edu.et/ by texting 6284 with their Registration Number or on Telegram https://t.me/eaesbot from midnight tonight. The Ministry of Education is also expected to make a statement on the result tomorrow, providing further information and analysis of the results.

Source -Addis Insight

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