Weakness and Remedies

The observed weaknesses of the candidates this year include:

• inability to identify the structures on the diagrams correctly;
• inability to name the diagram on parts of the skeletal system in humans;
• inability to name the type of joints that exists between the labelled pairs of bones;
• wrong spellings of biological names, terms, structure and features;;
• use of poor grammar to express explanation of terms;
• grammatical errors in the expression of facts in most answers;
• inability to name the mineral element that is absent in the soil where the insectivorous plant is found;
• inability to state other leaf modifications;
• inability to state reasons why waterleaf plant will not survive in the habitat of a cactus plant.

The following remedies were proffered to overcome the weaknesses:

• candidates should cover the syllabus before taking the examinations;

candidates should improve on their written English;
-     candidates should try as much as possible to spell properly;
-     candidates should read and understand a question properly before attempting it;
-     candidates should study past questions and Chief Examiner’s Report;

• candidates should avoid copying answers;
• candidates should study structures on organisms and learn their functions so as to be able to answer adaptation questions;
• the general principles and terms used in Biology should be studied with practical examples.