Educators from across the City of Kigali convened in Gasabo District on Wednesday, December 10, to discuss the underperformance of a number of primary and secondary schools. The meeting, informed by the 2024-2025 examination results and a subsequent citywide assessment, sought to understand why some schools continue to register high failure rates. ALSO READ: National Exams: Five key takeaways from A-Level results The meeting followed an October supervision exercise undertaken after A-Level results were released on September 1 and Primary and Ordinary Level results on August 19. Data showed disparities across districts and confirmed that 56 schools that failed this year were also among the 68 that underperformed in 2023-2024. The officials also discussed the decline in O-Level performance. Out of 15,352 O-Level candidates citywide, 8,405 failed, leaving only 6,947 able to attain the minimum 50 per cent pass mark. Equally troubling, 56 of the 125 schools that presented candidates did not achieve the required pass rate. ALSO READ: Kayonza schools lead in A-Level national exams Gasabo District, which registered the largest number of candidates, emerged among the weakest performers. Sixty-one schools enrolled 7,511 students for the examinations, but only 27 schools met the pass mark while 34 schools failed. Just 2,696 students passed, compared to 4,815 failures, producing a 47.1 per cent pass rate. In Nyarugenge District, 29 schools sat for the exams. Fifteen schools failed to attain the pass mark, and only 14 succeeded. Of the 4,182 candidates, 2,852 failed, leaving only 1,330 to meet the 50 per cent threshold. The district posted a 46.1 per cent pass rate. Kicukiro District, though comparatively stronger, still recorded setbacks. Among its 35 schools, six failed to meet the pass mark, while 29 succeeded. Out of 3,659 candidates, 2,921 passed and 738 failed, giving the district a pass rate of 63.3 per cent. ALSO READ: Five key highlights from the 2023/24 S6 national exam results At A-Level, 10,168 candidates sat for national exams. In Kicukiro District, 3,338 candidates were registered, with 3,102 passing and 236 failing; one of its 28 schools did not achieve the required pass mark. In Gasabo, 3,020 candidates sat, and 234 failed, while two schools did not meet the pass threshold. Nyarugenge District’s 22 schools all achieved the pass rate, though 332 of its 3,810 candidates did not attain the minimum score. ALSO READ: Pass rate for A-Level national exams up by 10% Why are some schools consistently performing poorly? An in-depth assessment was conducted in 65 chronically underperforming schools, using nine metrics including teaching practices, curriculum coverage, school leadership, resource use, mentorship, counseling programmes, and teacher competence. Several critical issues emerged. These included: Promotion of illegible learners One of the highlighted concerns is the promotion of learners who score below the national 50 per cent pass requirement. Schools in the failure cohort were found to advance students in non-candidate classes despite insufficient academic grades, a practice that ultimately becomes evident when learners sit for national exams. Weak teaching preparation and inadequate instructional practice The assessment also found that many teachers deliver lessons without schemes of work or lesson plans. The absence of structured planning undermines effective teaching, consistency, and accountability. Additionally, active learning methodologies were found to be widely neglected. Classroom management emerged as another major challenge, particularly due to unfair subject distribution. Directors of Studies were found to assign limited workloads to certain teachers while overloading others, contributing to imbalance, burnout, and inconsistent academic outcomes. ALSO READ: National exams: Over 75% pass PLE, 64% pass O-Level Limited school leadership oversight Weak supervision by school leaders was another critical factor. Head teachers were found to rarely observe classroom sessions or monitor adherence to teaching schedules, giving room for inconsistent practices and lax accountability. Furthermore, teachers who fail to meet responsibilities reportedly face little or no disciplinary action. Underuse of remedial programmes and learning resources Despite the Ministry of Education’s guidelines on remedial teaching, many schools either do not implement the programme or fail to execute it adequately. Classroom overcrowding was also cited as a challenge, though the assessment noted that some high-performing schools face similar constraints yet still achieve strong results.
