From a 48 per cent pass rate in the past year to an 84 per cent this year, Waiqele College has overcome its four-year academic underperformance in the Year 12 Examination.

The school outside Labasa Town managed to move away from this stigma in the Fiji School Leaving Certificate Examination.

An elated principal Ashok Ram said it was because of reforms the Ministry of Education had introduced and so with their collective efforts.

Of the 25 students who sat the exam 21 passed, he said.

“Such an improvement is an achievement for the college, thanks to the collective effort of the administration, staff, parents, management and Ministry of Education,” Mr Ram said.

“This year we focussed more on parental engagement, improved facilities in college, closely monitored staff and discipline students including attendance to college.

“Without scaling our college had 84 percent pass rate which proves that there is lot of potential in our students which our teachers have developed,” Mr Ram said.

Minister for Education Mahendra Reddy said the ministry was very happy with the progress made by Waiqele College.

“The credit goes to teachers and students in particular for accepting the reforms and working towards a common objective and improving student performance,” Mr Reddy said.

Meanwhile, a number of concerns have been raised by parents saying that they were shocked to note their children getting low marks compared to the annual result.

When questioned, Mr Reddy said: “If students think their mark should be different, they should apply for recount or remarking”.

“However, they must understand external exams are different and they should not expect exactly the same mark.

“I must say that we are now on the right track with regard to getting students and teachers to focus on their core business,” he said.

Edited: Ranoba Baoa

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