Ministry promises admissions review

The cutoff points for students hoping to join schools under the universal secondary education scheme are to be revised next week, officials have said.

The Director of Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr John Agaba, yesterday said: “Performance has been very good and considering available resources, these cutoff points could be reviewed.”

The point mark has stood at aggregate 28 as the lowest score one can have for a USE school.
The management of USE will also then determine how many students to take on.

Clarity
Mr Agaba also shed more light on pupils who scored more than aggregate 28.
“Those who scored up to aggregate 32 are recognised as having passed by the Ministry and qualify to join a post-secondary education institution. But only those who score up to 28 are able to qualify for USE sponsorships.”

As such, those below aggregate 28 can join any institution that takes on P7 leavers including non-USE schools.

In case of a review, those with 28, who in previous years easily qualified for USE, will have to find alternatives. But with steady improvements in performance in the past three years, more and more students are hitting the mark.

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