NAQEZ proposes same cut-off point for boys and girls
By Kholiwe Miti
National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) has called on government to devise the same cut-off point for male and female pupils in schools.
NAQEZ executive director Aaron Chansa says this will promote healthy academic competition among pupils.
‘’As we remain with only five months before Grade 7 candidates sit for their final examinations and as the nation will practically be doing away with 100% automatic progression to Grade 8, the National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) is strongly proposing a system of equating the cut-off point for boys and girls,’’ he said in a statement.
‘’To promote healthy academic competition and equality between boys and girls, there is need for the Ministry of Education to put only one cut-off point. Lowering academic targets for girls at this level is perpetuating a false and old narrative that boys are more intelligent than girls; that girls can only be second best. The girls of Zambia have proved this notion wrong by consistently outperforming boys in examinations.’’
Chansa said having the same cut-off point will remove inferiority complex in girls.
He said research has so far proved that in recent years, girls have performed better than boys in final examinations, hence the need to have the same cut-off point.
‘’In the past few years, statistics have clearly indicated that girls in Zambia have been performing much better than boys at primary level in almost all subjects. Last year, more girls passed with Division One certificates than boys did. Despite these facts, ,girls are still given a lower cut- off point for passage to Grade 8. This practice cannot be justified,’’ said Chansa.
‘’Putting the same cut-point for both boys and girls will put away the dangerous inferiority complex that has been fed to the girls for many years, wrongly convincing them that they are academically inferior to the boys with whom they are at same Grade level, e.g. Grade 7, 9 or 12. Finally and very importantly so, we look forward to the way the Ministry of Education will handle the 2023 Grade 7 learners who will need to undergo vocational training in January 2024.”- The Mast