Why academic giant St Francis dropped to second position in Form Four exams

Mbeya. St Francis Girls Secondary School of Mbeya has blamed its drop to the second position in best performance ranks on some students’ disobedience of teachers’ directives and failure by parents to ensure they report to school on time after holidays.

The Catholic Church-run school led in the 2018 Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) results announced by the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta).

The school’s Form Four teacher, priest Jamson Mwiligumo, says the school could not make it to the first position as it was last year because of poor cooperation of some students, who reported outside the normal school term days.

Some students overstayed at home during holidays and failed to attend some of the classes.

“When leave days are over, some of the students report on time, but others report to school late. By the time they report to school, they find fellow students have already gone far with learning, making it difficult for them to catch up. Parents are partly to share the blame on this situation,” he said.

However, Mr Mwiligumo said students’ performance was still good despite the challenge.

“We have dropped one position but all of the 57 students who sat for exams have passed with division one of seven points,” he said.

History and English subjects teacher at the school, Mr Leonard Peter noted that constant prayers and conducive learning environment like library and laboratories have contributed to the good results.

“We were the first at national level last year with only 41 students. This year we had 51 and all got division one,” he said.