Deteriorating performance in different levels of education continued to unravel on Friday when Botswana Examination Council (BEC) released BGCSE results for 2017. The results show a decrease in percentage of candidates who attained grades C or better. A total of 37 251 candidates sat for the 2017 BGCSE examination and 28.47 percent of those attained grades C or better, a slight decrease of just 0.06 percent from 28.53 percent recorded in 2016. There was an increase of 1 786 (5.04 percent) in candidature compared to the previous year at 35 465. Of the total number of those who wrote the examinations, 21 661 (58.15 percent) were females and 15 590 (41.85 percent) were males. Presenting the results, BEC Executive Secretary Professor Brian Mokopakgosi said the performance of the female candidates continues to improve compared to performance of male candidates. The proportion of candidates with 5 Cs or better who are female has slightly increased from 56.90 percent in 2016 to 57.92 percent in 2017 compared to their male counterparts whose grades have slightly decreased from 43.10 percent in 2016 to 42.08 percent in 2017. Prof Mokopakgosi said besides encountering challenges at the beginning of the marking process with the marking…