CRITERIA
FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL SCIENCE COMPETITIONS AWARDS
The are five categories of the awards
Male Science Students Category with first, second and third
positions.
Female Science Students Category with first, second and third positions.
Best Science School for Female Students Category.
Best Science School Category with first, second and third positions.
Overall Best Science Student Category.
I General aspects of the Criteria
Performance in the Malawi School Certificate Examinations in the following science subjects is used to determine winners of the competition for awards.
Additional Mathematics
Agriculture
Biology
General Science
Mathematics
Physical Science
In computation, the Malawi School Certificate of Examination grades scored by candidates are weighted as follows:
II The Best Student Of The Year
The following are the regulations governing the selection of the Best Science
Student of the Year:
All students registering for the Malawi School Certificate
Examinations are eligible for and automatically enter the competition for
the year.
The following performance indices are computed:
The proportion of science subjects (out of 6) offered by the candidates.
If a student attempts 1 less science subject than the total number of science
subjects the school offers, this portion is multiplied by 0.95; if he/she
attempts 2 less than the school offers, this portion is multiplied by 0.85
etc. For example, if a school offers 4 science subject and the candidate
attempts only 1, then the portion will be 0.85*(1/6) = 0.14.
The percentage score based on Malawi School Certificate of Examination
grades for the possible five science subjects that can be offered by the
student. For example, if three (3) science subjects were attempted and MSCE
grades were (1, 2, 3,) this would give 8 + 7 + 6 would be (21/40) x 100 =
52.4%.
The percentage score for the science subjects offered by candidate. For
example using figures in (b) above, the percentage score would be out of
a possible aggregate of 24. Thus the average percentage score would be
(21/24) x 100 = 87.5%. The possible aggregate is therefore variable depending
on
the science subjects attempted.
The performance indices are then weighted as follows to determine the
final score:
The student with the highest score aggregate after applying calculations
in II2 and II3 above becomes the Best Science Student of the year.
III The Best Female Science Student of the Year
The regulations governing the selection of the Best Female Science Student of
the year are as follows:
All female students registering for the Malawi School Certificate
Examination are eligible for and automatically enter the competition for
the year.
The female student with highest score aggregate after applying calculations
in II2 and II3 above becomes the Best Female science Student of the year.
IV The Best Male Science Student of the Year
The regulations governing the selection of the Best Male Science Student of the year are as follows:
All Male students registering for the Malawi School Certificate
Examination are eligible for and automatically enter the competition for
the year.
The Male student with highest score aggregate after applying calculations
in II2 and II3 above becomes the Best Male Science Student of the year.
V The Best Science Secondary School of the Year
The regulations governing the selection of the Best Science Secondary School
of the year are as follows:
All Secondary schools registering as examination
centers for the Malawi School Certificate Examination are automatic entrants
in the competition for
the year.
The following performance indices are computed:
The proportion, out
of 6, science subjects offered at the school.
The proportion of students
doing science at MSCE level. The index is computed in terms of the
percentage of science entries, considers only 6 subjects
per candidate, as per the formula:
Science entries ÷ (
Number of candidates in school x 6)
Fractional breakdown
of science grades along the following lines:
MSCE Grade Weightingpoint
(WP) Fraction of science students with Grade(FSSG) Grade
Score(WPxFSSG)
1 8
2 7
3 6
4 5
5 4
6 3
7 2
8 1
9 0
School Performance Score is the sum of the Grades Scores appearing on the
last column. This is then converted into an average percentage relative to
the case where all students achieved the Malawi School Certificate Examination
grade 1 in all science entries.
Performance indices
are then weighted as follows before determining the final score for the
school:
2 (a) ………………………….20%
2 (b) ………………………….50%
2 (c )………………………….30%
The final score will be the sum of the weighted performance indices. The secondary
school with the highest aggregate becomes the Best Science Secondary School
of the year.
VI The Best Science
Secondary School for Female Students of the Year
The regulations governing the selection of the Best Science Secondary School
for Female Students of the year are as follows:
All Secondary schools (including those which are co-educational)
with female students registering as examination centers for the Malawi School
Certificate Examination are automatic entrants in the competition for the
year.
For girl’s secondary schools the
computation of performance indices are those stipulated under V2 to V3.
For co-educational secondary school the computation of performance indices
are those stipulated under V2 to V3 with the exception that only female grades
are involved in the determination of the school performance score in V2(c
). All the other indices for the school remain the same as for the Best Science
Secondary School of the year.
The secondary school with the highest aggregate after applying V12 or
V13 above becomes the Best Science Secondary for Female Students of the
year.