National exams for students ending both Ordinary level and Advanced level of secondary studies for the academic year 2017 began today.
A total of 142,305 students are sitting for the exams with an increase of 9,098 (6.8%) students compared to those of last year 2016.
Girls count for 53618 among 98,268 for ordinary level and 23,536 of the 44,037 Advanced level.
The Minister for State in Charge For Primary And Secondary Education, Isaac Munyakazi, officiated the exams at Groupe Scolaire Remera Protestant in Kicukiro District.
Munyakazi said that there was enough time to prepare for the exams, adding that he hoped students will face no problems.
He noted that when students sit for national exams, it is a time for students to express gratitude for the efforts and commitment showed by parents, the country and others, for them to get an education.
National Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) were done on November 13, this year.
Girls were 130,787 while boys were 106,394. Girls had outnumbered boys by 13,079, in the last year national exams for primary school.
There was an increase of 25% for candidates who sat for national Primary Leaving Examinations in 2017 as 42,592 more students compared to those in 2016.
Michael Tusiime, the deputy director in charge of examinations and accreditation at Rwanda Education Board, attributed the increase of candidates to the efforts of the government re-enroll school dropouts.
“Lately, the government carried out intense campaigns to return students to school countrywide,” he said.
