Secondary school finalists across the country are either jumping for joy or in the depths of despair after both senior six and Technical Vocation Education and Training (TVET) 2019 A’ Level results were released on Monday afternoon. The results, released indicated a slight growth, as female candidates outclassed their male counterparts. Girls recorded a general pass rate of 93.2 per cent compared to 86.5 per cent recorded by boys. Many took to social media to share their excitement and pride in their achievement with hilarious tweets and memes, while others revealed they were surprised to pass classes they thought they would fail. In this light, Education caught up with two mental giants from sciences and arts and they shared their journey and future plans. Marie Iphigenie Bera, was the best in sciences; she offered Math-Physics-Geography at Gashora Girls Academy of science and Technology. In the interview, she attributed success to teamwork and time management during her final year in secondary school. “In order to perform as a student who is passionate about success, I can say that they are two things required,” she said, adding, “First, working together with your own classmates. This enables you to learn from them and at the same time they learn from you. Basically, when you study alone, you miss out on a number of lessons, and this might affect your performance regardless of how bright you are.” The 19-year-old also pointed out that there is need to create space for activities outside the classroom. “From my experience, I know that the final year is busy, this might not provide enough time for students to engage in other activities, yet this is a very important aspect in a student’s life. I had to make time for sports, I liked writing, so I was part of the media club and a lot of other things that I used to feel good about taking part in,” she says. She dismisses the mind-set that girls cannot excel in science courses. Arguing that it all depends on the level of commitment a student carries with them. “It is just a matter of commitment. There is nothing special about boys in sciences for sure. I made sure I concentrated on my studies, and I am glad it paid off, I just hope that this can pave way for the other girls who are still struggling with discouraging audiences, discouraging them from pursuing their studies” she says. Bera highlights that the government’s initiative to encourage girls’ education in STEM subjects should be enough to instil the passion in them. In a separate interview, Enoch Ntivuguruzwa, who emerged the best in languages, challenges students and in particular, candidates to work hard in their respective combinations, and ignore competition amongst themselves. “I was actually not in competition with anyone. I put forward my responsibility as a student to work hard and be able to achieve impressively,” he says. “In most cases, students will study in order to compete, yet in the long run, they are not building their personal skills, and this greatly affects performance.” Ntivuguruzwa who pursued Literature, French and Kinyarwanda, emphasises that discipline, hard work and close monitoring from teachers and parents pushed him to the achievement. “I believe that with a good background in languages, especially the ones that are most spoken here in Rwanda, it is easy for me to work in any sector,” he says. Additionally, the 18-year-old is of the view that as the world becomes more globalised, the demand for language speakers from companies is on the increase as they expand operations into new markets. “These companies, therefore, need language speakers to satisfy the demands of their clients across the world. It is really easy to build a relationship with somebody when you speak the same language as them,” Ntivuguruzwa, the former student of Groupe Scolaire, Rebero, says. The general pass rate was 89.5 per cent, representing a 1.27 per cent increase compared to the 2018 performance.
