By Price J. Musa in Kenema and Nasratu Kargbo
Nasma Skaikay who emerged with the best result in this year’s West African Senior Secondary School Examination (WASSCE) has referred to her success as a great achievement for her and motivation for other girls in Sierra Leone.
The 17-year-old from Kambui Lebanese International School, in Kenema spoke to Politico on Tuesday 27th September 2022 at her school’s ground, encouraging other students, especially girls to take their studies seriously. She expressed her determination to pursue her academic work so that she can give back to the country.
‘’My message to colleague students set to take WASSCE more especially girls, is for them to believe in themselves and study very hard so that they too can make history in this country’’ said Skaikay.
She urged students to be focused saying her record-breaking result was a pacesetter and laurel for the Kenema district and commended the school administration, especially the teachers for being with her in and out of the school as she prepared for the exam.
Skaiky’s ambition is to study Engineering at University and urged other women to pursue their studies with utmost seriousness.
The girl’s father, Taha Amin Skaikay a businessman, told Politico that he felt proud as a father and believes her daughter’s success would motivate other girls in society.
‘’I just want parents to know that they should not doubt their children as every child can be brilliant and that it’s how we help them to perform in school that counts’’, he said.
The Principal of Kambui Lebanese International School Kenema, Mahmoud Mousli Mani said it’s not the first time the school is getting attention. He said in 2008, the school as a whole came second in the Junior Secondary School public exams or BECE, first in the WASSCE in 2012, second in BECE in 2014, 2015 first and second in the WASSCE and BECE, and 2018, 2019, 2020 second in WASSCE.
The Principal stated that the administration, staff and parents, and the Lebanese committee do work together to prepare their children for public exams and that the WASSCE result this year is a big glory to them.
The principal assured the public that, as an administration, they will continue to improve on their academic performance and commended the teachers.
Meanwhile, Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) Dr. David Moinina Sengeh has said the country recorded more university requirements in 2022.
Sengeh whilst announcing the results on the 26th of September 2022 said: “In 2022 more than 108,000 students obtained the requirements, which is more than the previous 5 years combined”. He said they obtained five (5) credits which included English Language and Mathematics.
He explained that the number of candidates that attained direct entry to the university to study degree programmes in a single sitting has increased by 1,781% between 2018 and 2022. Sengeh further explained that the number of students that met the standard of attaining five (5) credits in a single sitting increased by 1863% between 2018 and 2022.
The minister added that the top schools had 100% of their students gaining university requirements, noting that they met a minimum requirement for a direct entry to study any degree programme with an average of 2.33 which is approximated to be a B2.
He highlighted the pass rate for individual papers that have scaled up from 64% in 2021 to 77% in 2022.
Dr. Sengeh also revealed that more female candidates attained university requirements as compared to their male counterparts. “For the second year in a row, there are more female students than male students sitting WASSCE”, he stated.
Speaking on performances for the two major subjects, Dr. Sengeh said that the pass rate for English Language was 63%, with males performing better than the female candidates, whilst for Mathematics, the rate of passes is 90%, with females edging their male counterparts.
The minister said Commerce has the lowest pass rate with 11%, and core Science with the highest pass rate recording 95%, noting that there is still a large variation in the performance in the subjects.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (28/09/22)
