GCE Advance Level percentage drops, candidates blame COVID-19 pandemic

Results of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education 2020 session have been released today Friday, October 2, 2020. The long awaited results have not met the wish and aspirations of many candidates of the GCE Advanced Level.

Following statistics published by the Cameroon GCE board, advanced level performance stood at 64.4 % this year. This has been rated as a drop given that in 2019, the performance of students stood at 74.24%.

Jean Pierre Tabouh, an unsuccessful candidate points accusing finger on the outbreak of COVID-19.
“When government announced the suspension of school on the 17th of March 2020 following the outbreak of COVID 19, I lost hope that the exam will really take place this year. Though, I kept revising my books, the zeal was not longer there” he says.

Jean confesses that many of his classmates did same and that might have possibly accounted for their failure.

At the ordinary level, 64.04 % students passed from two subjects and above. The percentage is an improvement given that in 2019, the performance was 62.15%.

According to the board chair of GCE board, despite the percentages, the number of successful students this year are more than that of last academic year. Speaking on state radio, Prof. Ivo Leke Tambo says “…if you read deep in the results you will discover that the students have scored good grades at both the ordinary and the advance levels despite the fact that results of advanced level have droped.”

To Prof. Ivo Leke Tambo, “… some students left the bushes where they were hiding high level of insecurity and started studies late…we are confident that as more and more people will resume school early this academic year, the results will be better next year”.

A major particularity of GCE results this year according to the board chair is the organisation of the maiden edition of technical and vocational examination that produces certificate in English as compared to what was done in the past.

GCE board has counted the 2020 examination session as a success despite the pandemic and insecurity in the anglophone regions of Cameroon.

The results have been published less than 72 hours to the start of the new school year on the 5th of October 2020.

Mbatho Ntan.