Dear Editor,
The recent announcement of the 2026 NGSA results has generated public interest and discussions among parents, educators, and members of the wider society, with many questioning whether the distribution of the standardized scores reflects genuine differences in the results of candidates. With that said, I write to express my concerns regarding the lack of transparency of the results presented by the Honourable Minister of Education on 10th June, 2026, and the subsequent placement of these learners.
From the outset, I wish to congratulate the fifteen thousand, seven hundred and six learners who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment. I also wish to congratulate the dedicated teachers and parents who offered guidance and support to these learners. Their achievements represent a collective effort by both parents and teachers.
Nonetheless, the announcement of these results also requires the Ministry of Education to disclose the details of the statistical standardization processes involved in the tabulation of scores. Given the reported concentration of high standardized scores, many teachers and parents are questioning whether the National Grade Six Assessment continues to possess the discriminatory power to distinguish among candidates with varying abilities. However, this conclusion can only be reached if the item difficulty indices, item discrimination indices, score distribution, validity evidence and reliability coefficients are made public.
Of equal concern, many parents and teachers have justifiably expressed their dissatisfaction with the placement of learners who attained as much as 97% of the total standardized score since public confidence depends on transparency. These learners were placed at schools within their catchment area while previously, these percentages had earned learners a placement at one of the country’s senior secondary schools. Concerns have been expressed that many schools to which learners were assigned lack the resources available to the senior secondary schools, and as such, place learners at a relative disadvantage.
Additionally, the placements of these candidates may have caused disappointment and emotional stress among learners who dedicated their time to achieving high scores in hope that attaining over 95% in the National Grade Six Examination will guarantee them one of the five top schools. Taking this into consideration, are we saying to these learners that no matter how hard they work to attain over 90%, their dream schools will always be out of their reach?
To maintain the integrity of any national assessment, transparency is of utmost importance. It also strengthens public trust in the Ministry of Education to provide fair and credible results of assessments. Accordingly, I wish to recommend that the Ministry of Education discloses the evidence of the validity and reliability of the National Grade Six Assessment which indicate that the assessment measures student achievement accurately and consistently. I strongly recommend that validity evidence, item difficulty indices, item discrimination indices, score distribution and reliability coefficients be made available to allow the public to independently evaluate the fairness and credibility of the assessment. Our parents, teachers and learners deserve to know the process involved in the tabulation and placement of these candidates.