Africa-Press – Zambia. MORE boys than girls have failed the 2025 Primary School Leaving and Junior Secondary School Leaving Examinations despite being fewer in number, Education Minister Douglas Syakalima revealed, raising concerns over the need for increased focus on the boy child.
Syakalima officially released the results yesterday, describing them as a “Christmas and New Year gift to the nation”
The Minister stated that the timely disclosure will allow parents and guardians to prepare learners for Form 1 and Grade 10 when schools reopen on January 12, next year.
A total of 587,471 candidates registered for the 2025 Primary School Leaving Examination, with 91.72 percent sitting the exams.
Of these, 71.36 percent passed, while 28.64 percent failed and will not progress to Form 1 next year.
Girls continued to outnumber boys, making up 52.33 percent of candidates and also maintained a higher pass rate.
In the Junior Secondary School Leaving Examination, 285,634 candidates sat for the exams, with 72.25 percent obtaining certificates, a jump from 55.89 percent in 2024.
However, boys again lagged behind girls in performance, accounting for a larger proportion of the 6,956 candidates who failed.
“The results are showing that we must pay attention to the boy child,” Syakalima said.
“Parents, guardians, teachers and communities all have a role to play in nurturing both boys and girls.”
Syakalima attributed the improved performance to government policies, including the abolition of automatic progression and interventions by the Ministry and cooperating partners to ensure learners possess the requisite competences before advancing.
On examination integrity, the Minister confirmed that no leakage of examination materials occurred, though 92 suspected malpractice cases were reported during the junior secondary exams.
Results for affected candidates have been withheld pending review by the Examination Council of Zambia.
By George Musonda
Kalemba December 23, 2025
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