The common weaknesses manifested in the candidates' scripts were:

(i)Poor grammatical expressions
Most or the candidates could not express themselves in simple. clear and correct language. This negatively affected their scores.

Students should be encouraged to read textbooks, novels. newspapers etc to help improve on their grammatical skills

(ii)Illegible handwritings
A good number or candidates could not write legibly. The poor handwriting probably affected their scores because the examiners found it difficult to read what they wrote.

Students should be encouraged to write legibly. They can achieve this by practising before the examinations.

(iii) Scanty explanation of points      
Most otthe candidates merely listed their points without explaining them. This lead to appreciable loss of marks. It is very necessary that candidate explain their points as required in the question. This is the only way they can earn good marks.

(iv) Poor knowledge of drawing graphs and simple calculations
A good number of candidates could not draw the appropriate graphs. Most of them had difficulties in scaling axes and joining points on the graphs. Some candiadate drew their graphs on ordinary paper even when it was clearly stated in the1 he question that the use of a graph sheets is essential'.

Another area of weakness was the inability of candidates to carry out simple calculations. Most of the candidates lost good marks for this reason. Candidates should be encouraged to develop their skills in this area before the examinations.

(v)Inadequate preparation of the examination
From the answers that candidates provided, one could deduce that most of them did not have in- depth knowledge of the subject matter which 01" (nurse is an aftermath of poor preparation for the examination.

Teachers should be encouraged to cover the required syllabus before the examination. Students on their own should read relevant and standard textbooks and not summaries and key points.