What the JC results tell us

The Form III results have come and gone, leaving others ecstatic, while hundreds more had a gloomy Christmas precisely because of them.

The question of whether the Junior Certificate (JC) Examination has once again been revived, with some emaSwati believing that it is no longer relevant, especially in light of government introducing the four-year high school programme, which is currently at pilot stage in selected schools. Others argue that if the preschool certificate is relevant as a foundational milestone, so is the Form III certificate.

This is a debate that requires its own time and space because it has various elements and points of focus. My attention today is on the plethora of points to ponder presented by the complexion of the Form III results.

Whether we like it or not, these results give us a glimpse into the state of our education system.

One of my main concerns, as I read through the analyses provided by the Examinations Council of Eswatini, was the discernible disparity between rural and urban schools.

In terms of performance, schools in urban areas do better than those in rural communities.  This is unfair to both parents and learners in rural schools.

This recurring fact reminds us that there is no balance in the manner in which resources (probably both financial and human) are distributed in the kingdom’s education sector. It is a fact that brains alone do not make a learner perform to the best of their ability.

A research paper by Juliana Maffea of the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, highlights the effects of a lack of resources in classrooms.

Titled ‘Lack of Resources in Classrooms’, the paper says schools in high poverty areas scramble to find resources, which in turn affects learners in different ways.

“It means they are not getting the most out of their education. They are learning parts of topics and lessons, but they are not getting the full picture as they deserve,” reads the research paper in part.

It also reveals that pupils in high-poverty schools do worse on standardised tests and are more likely to be chronically absent during the school year, more likely to be held back in their grade, and less likely to graduate on time.

Now, 17 674 learners sat for the 2025 JC examination in the Eswatini, but only 17 365 eventually sat for it. I can bet my last Lilangeni that a majority of the 309 who eventually did not write the examination were from rural schools.

The overall analysis of performance by region also gives a skewed demographic picture. The Manzini Region recorded a pass rate of 85.23 per cent, while Hhohho came second at 81.93 per cent. This means that on average, schools in these two regions, where most urban schools are located, recorded fewer than 15 per cent failures.

The same cannot be said of the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions, which both recorded pass rates of around 79 per cent.

This means the failure rate in these regions was at more than 20 per cent, on average. Even the best-performing candidates list is dominated by urban schools like Manzini Nazarene, Ngwane Park, St Theresa’s, Ka-Boyce, Mjingo, and St Michael’s.

Only a handful of rural institutions wiggled their way into the limelight. I saw Entandweni, Masibekela and Mncozini High. Sebenele Ngozo of Mliba High also put his school on the map, managing to be among the 25 candidates who shared the top three spot nationwide.

Though not new, this trend is disturbing and calls for a bridging of the proverbial divide. The Ministry of Education and Training, together with relevant ministries like Finance, and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) should make it their mission to empower rural schools more in 2026 and beyond.

They should be deliberate about sending resources, including access to the internet, computers and other amenities to schools in far-flung areas.

If the country is moving towards first world status, no school, community or region should be left behind. Next year’s results should display the outcome of such efforts.

That said, an analysis of the 2025 Form III results also reveals that the national pass rate dropped to 82.07 per cent, reflecting a decline of 1.08 per cent from 2024. One per cent is far from negligible if we are talking about a total of 17 674 candidates. Indeed, a staggering 3 114 failed the examination.

Add this number to the 309 who registered, but eventually did not write the examination and you have a catastrophe of worrying proportions. Come to think of it, who are these 309 pupils and where are they now? What challenges led to them not sitting for the exam?

It could be any of a number of reasons, like pregnancy, sexual abuse, poverty (no money for exam fees), drugs, illness, death and others.  Whatever the varying reasons, these statistics should worry Minister for Education and Training Owen Nxumalo, and all other stakeholders like SNAT, the National Curriculum Centre (NCC) and the Exams Council itself.

As parents, we are wondering what lies ahead for our children who are yet to start formal schooling. With serious challenges in the new Competency-Based Education (CBE) programme at the primary level, what does the future hold, now that this controversial curriculum is about to step into the corridors of secondary schools?

Lest we forget, we are fresh from a thought-provoking, if not disconcerting report that condemned the kingdom’s education as irrelevant and disconnected from the needs of the modern labour market.

This was the Youth National Agenda of Priorities report, which was compiled by the Youth Empowerment in Eswatini (YES) programme and funded by the European Union (EU).

One of the notable findings was that digital infrastructure in the country’s schools was poor, especially in the rural areas, with limited access to tools, the internet and technology.

The report said the digital economy remained out of reach for most young emaSwati. Cultural and societal attitudes were blamed for undervaluing education, particularly for vulnerable groups and learners with disabilities.

This, the YES report noted, deepens exclusion and inequality in the country’s education system. The 2025 Form III results have confirmed the existence of both exclusion and inequality in our education. A realignment is not only a necessity, but also a matter of urgency.