By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education has told Politico that Mathematics and English are both core requirements for admission into any department in public universities in Sierra Leone. The Permanent Secretary, Gilbert Cooper, made the statement on Tuesday in an interview.
“We are saying, if you want to go to the University you have to pass English and Mathematics for us to maintain quality. Because whether you are studying Science, Arts or Commercial discipline (course) the fact of the matter is if you don’t pass English language it is useless because you’re going to be taught in English,’’ Cooper said.
In August this year, the Ministry issued a press release prohibiting matriculation examination in all public tertiary institutions. That decision meant that students who don’t have the necessary requirements no longer have the second chance that was normally offered by some departments to enter university.
The Matriculation Examination was usually conducted for prospective students who want to seek admission in university but don’t have the required pass mark (credit) in English or Mathematics.
A department like Engineering at Fourah Bay College has been conducting this exam since 1976 for students with Higher National Diploma (HND) and Ordinary National Diploma (OND) who didn’t have the required West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) grade in English.
The requirement to enter the Engineering department is 5 credits in the WASSCE, this includes a minimum of C5 in Mathematics and C6 in English. Applicants with OND and HND who don’t have the required grades in English are usually required to pay a sum of Le150,000 to take the matriculation exams.
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Kelleh Mansaray, told Politico that banning of matriculation exams was untimely because they have already advertised their entry requirement.
“Students applied based on the entry requirement. Three weeks to the interview, when we had already invited applicants to the interview, including those who will be taking the matriculation exams in English, only to receive a press release from the Ministry Technical and Higher Education that matriculation exams should not be conducted,” he told Politico last week Friday.
“The decision was not discussed with us. I don’t know if they discussed with the University authorities. If they want to introduce this policy, they should have done it before students applied,” he added.
Cooper insisted that the decision was based on the need to maintain quality in the education system.
“We did not cancel matriculation exams. What we did was to say if you are talking about entrance into University, we don’t expect students who do not pass either mathematics or English or both to enter in the university system, because this is why we have some graduates who have division one but don’t know how to speak English and write,” he said.
Sallieu Laggah had completed his diploma at Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET). He took the matriculation exams in 2016 and he is now in year two at the Engineering department of FBC.
Speaking on the decision, he said: “The cancellation is a bad idea because there are some people with seven subjects [with credits], excluding English. So, this is a way for them to proceed with their course, having D7 in English does not make you a fool. So, this was a great opportunity for people with good result but had D7 in English,” he said.
The Engineering Department is not the only department that has been affected by this. The Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at FBC and other science departments in Njala University were also affected.
The Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences refused to grant an interview to Politico, even though the decision affected them more than the Engineering department.
A source within the university said Pure and Applied Department even conducted exam for students who didn’t even have HND or OND.
Whiles the frustration of students continues, Cooper said the ministry doesn’t have any plans to overturn the decision.
“We are going to maintain that (ban on matriculation exams). As long as you don’t pass English and Mathematics, we won’t allow you to go the university. The best you can do is to go and re-sit,” he stressed.
© 2019 Politico Online
