Female students perform better than males in 2021 WASSCE in Katsina – Commissioner

The Commissioner for Education in Katsina State, Prof. Badamasi Lawal, at the official ceremony of the Girl Education Project (GEP-III), disclosed that female students performed better than the male students in the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The attributed the result to the commitment of the government to  empower girls in the state, through various educational programmes.

The commissioner stated that 18,321 students sat for the WASSCE in 2021, adding that the state government paid the examination fees for all the candidates.

The commissioner highlighted: “Out of the 18,321 which 10,441 were male, while the female students were 7,880; wonderfully, the results indicated that 4,627 of the female students scored credit in English language, which is 58.7 per cent.

“From the 10,441 male students, only 5,632 scored credits in English language, which is 54 per cent, this means the girls scored higher than the boys in English language.

“In Mathematics, the girls also performed higher than the boys, because 5,678 of them scored credits, while only 4,726 of the boys, scored credits.

“Because the number of the girls that sat for the examination was lower than that of the boys, the boys scored 58 per cent while the girls scored 53 per cent, which is also higher.

“Five credits, including Mathematics and English Language, out of the total number mentioned above, 4,247 among the girls scored credit, that is 56 per cent, as against the males who scored only 48 per cent.”

Ge said that the aim of the project in the state is to increase access to education among girl- children, improve teacher capacity and competency, as well as strengthening of the system.

He noted that all the activities mentioned had been achieved in the state, through the support of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

“No doubt the intervention has improved the girl child education in Katsina State. I want to showcase the evidence of this improvement, by making a presentation of the 2021 WASSCE results.

“It will show you that the presence of UNICEF in the state has done very well in improving girl child education,” the commissioner said.

The commissioner attributed the success to the intervention of UNICEF through its various programmes under the GEP-3 project in the state.