Govt ditches GPA and brings back division system

Dodoma. The grade point average (GPA) system will no longer be used to grade candidates in national Form Four and Six examinations, the government said yesterday.

Education and Vocational Training minister Joyce Ndalichako said in Dodoma that she had directed  the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) to immediately revert to the division system, which was abolished in 2014.

She said the decision to restore the old system was taken after Necta failed to convince the ministry on the advantages of the GPA system over the division arrangement.

“I have gone through the report  Necta forwarded to me following the directive I issued on January 9, this year, but haven’t seen any concrete grounds that back the decision to drop the division system in favour of GPA,” Prof Ndalichako said.

She also directed Necta to scrap continuous assessment examinations for private candidates.

Prof Ndalichako said that while regulations governing the application of the GPA system were gazetted on November 6, last year, Necta started to use the arrangement in 2014.

“You will note here that Necta used the GPA system for one-and-a-half years before the regulations were ready,” she said, adding that Necta’s explanation that GPA was introduced in response to a directive from the government was untrue.

“A letter sent to Necta from the Commissioner for Education did not say that. The letter, whose copy I have here, asked Necta to make arrangements for the introduction of the GPA system and present its proposals to the commissioner for approval.

To date, the commissioner, who is here with us, has not received any presentation and yet  Necta went ahead and introduced the system,” she said.

Necta’s explanation

Prof Ndalichako said Necta explained that the system was introduced following recommendations by stakeholders.

“However, we are not told who these stakeholders were: how many were they, where did they meet and what exactly did they suggest? This shows that this is just an excuse.”

Necta also told the minister that using GPA was advantageous over the division system, but did not explain how the new system was superior to the old one.

“Yes, we need change, but change should be informed and backed by scientific grounds. If change doesn’t conform to these tenets, then it is undesirable,” Prof Ndalichako said.

She also dismissed the claim that GPA was introduced following a proposal by the e-governance panel when it met in Arusha, adding that at no time did the team make such a suggestion.

What the panel advised was that all government institutions should harmonise their ICT systems to enable them to communicate easily, Prof Ndalichako said.

She said Necta had explained to her that GPA was a “pilot project”, adding that this was “dangerous  and recklessness”.

“How can you subject something so sensitive and serious to trial and error? Something which affects the lives of many people?” the minister asked.

Effects of GPA

Prof Ndalichako said despite Necta’s defence of the new system, many stakeholders did not understand the arrangement. “As a result, I have been receiving a lot of complaints about the GPA.  Some people commended me when I asked for an explanation from Necta, but others asked me why I did not abolish the  system immediately,” she said.

Prof Ndalichako noted that GPA was not consistent, thus  causing confusion among various stakeholders.

For instance, while at Ordinary Level distinction is between 3.6 and 5.0 points, the same is between 3.7 and 5.0 points at Advanced Level and between 4.4 and 5.0 points at teaching colleges. Prof Ndalichako noted that GPA had lowered the cut-off point, resulting in having many students who seem to have performed well in examinations while in actual fact they are below par.