ALMOST 25,000 students in 217 high schools around the kingdom have started their final year examinations for the Swaziland General Certificate of Secondary Education (SGCSE) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).
The first day of the exams on Tuesday 1 October 2024 featured History Paper 1 in the morning and English in the afternoon.
The exams are universally a high-tension period for students who must do their best to complete school and migrate to tertiary level or the world of work. The Eswatini Examinations Council, which administers the examination is anxious that all goes well. Past exams have been tainted by incidents of suspected malpractice for which council spokesperson Hlengiwe Kunene says they have put preventive measures in place.
“Encourage students, invigilators and teachers to take the exam seriously so that the SGCSE Certificates is credible.
“Last year there was a leak of one of the papers. This was very unfortunate to students and teachers as it meant that students had to rewrite exam. Such irresponsible actions impact on other students that are innocent,” she said.
The council is under pressure to make sure the exams are clean as the IGCSE is accredited by the Cambridge International Examination (CIE) which requires strict compliance with high standards.
Students spend a minimum of twelve years in school – 7 years in elementary school for the primary school certificate to enter secondary school. Secondary education is a five-year programme divided into three (3) years junior secondary and two (2) years senior secondary for which they must sit an external public examination (Junior Certificate) at the end of the junior secondary that learners have to pass in order to progress to the senior secondary level.
At the end of the senior secondary level, learners sit for SGCSE and IGSE exam. Some schools offer the Advanced Studies (AS) programme in their curriculum.
Jm/today/1.10.2024.
