This was disclosed at a press briefing held at the Regional Education Directorate, Kanifing, where officials said 23,039 students sat the exams.
Louis Moses Mendy, permanent secretary, MOBSE, described the results as good, adding that the quarter mark for grade 9 students to proceed to grade 10 is aggregate 42.
Despite the challenges, he said they have more students this year who passed the GABECE exams than before.
However, he pointed out that 140 candidates have been suspected to have been involved in examination malpractice. “We have some schools whose results are withheld by WAEC for one reason or the other and unless they fulfill that examination requirement, their results will not be released. About 13 of those schools have had their results withheld.”
Sohna Foon Chorr, director of Planning, Policy Analysis, Research Budgeting, MOBSE, gave the proposition of candidates that have aggregate less than or equal to 42 by region and year. In 2019, she said there was a total of 50.2% of candidates that had aggregate less than or equal to 42 and 52.7% in 2020.
Lamin Fatajo, director Region 1, said nationally, they have realised 24.2% passes gained over 2018 and 13.7% gained over 2019, indicating that there has been an increment in the number of passes.
He noted that there has been an improvement in the percentage passes by subjects except for mathematics which remains a challenge for many Gambian students.
