The National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) notes that with only five months before Grade 7 candidates sit for their final examinations and the nation will do away with 100% automatic progression to Grade 8, the organisation proposes that the system of equating the cut- off point for boys and girls should come to an end.
NAQEZ Executive Director Aaron Chansa points out that 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 and last year, more girls passed with Division One certificates than boys did but despite these facts, girls are still given a lower cut-off point for passage to Grade 8, adding that the practice cannot be justified.
He states that in order to promote healthy academic competition and equality between boys and girls, there is need for the Ministry of Education to put in place only one cut-off point.
Mr. Chansa notes that putting the same cut-off point for both boys and girls will do away with 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 the same grade level.
