CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The following were some of the weaknesses noticeable in the candidates’ scripts:
- Insufficient knowledge of the Bible and prescribed texts
Candidates’ demonstrated lack of understanding of the Bible as well as the prescribed texts and this caused inadequate preparation for the examination.
- Inadequate and inappropriate responses to questions
Many candidates responded inadequately to the demands of the questions by giving inadequate answers to questions especially in questions that demanded candidates to answer from a particular point of gospeller, e.g question 5. To this end, candidates failed to understand the demands of the questions and they strayed away from the points required to answer such questions.
- Mixing up of Biblical characters/Inadequate knowledge of Biblical Themes
It was observed that candidates were not familiar with the bible stories on which questions were asked. More often than not, candidates mixed up questions which were based on narratives with similar biblical stories. Such candidates took the question because of the part B which was based on simple common sense answers. To this end, some candidates answered questions that they do not have enough knowledge or understanding about. Perhaps, they did not understand the questions; however, the questions were straight forward. This led to some candidates writing outside the scheme of the set questions. For example, it was discovered that in question 6, some candidates mistook Simon of Cyrene for Joseph of Arimathea.
(2) Sermonizing (preaching)
Most candidates that answer the questions, especially in Section C, were preaching.
(3) Unnecessary Preambles
Some candidates gave very long and unnecessary preambles and introduction to the questions instead of going straight to the answers. This made them waste valuable time on irrelevant points thereby, limiting their ability to answer the questions well.
- Poor expression of ideas, facts, wrong spelling and bad handwriting negatively affected the performance of a lot of candidates.