BY: Aminata Sameena Sesay
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Dr. David Moinina Sengeh has thrown his support behind the decision by the Institute of Public Administration and Management IPAM University of Sierra Leone to conduct entrance examination for students after getting their requirements. He said the decision taken by the institution this year is a reflection of the successes of the Free Quality School Education (FQSE).
Dr. Sengeh said that the move will help deal with the large number of eligible candidates who seek to enroll in such a higher institution of learning.
“How does one deal with these large numbers of eligible candidates who can enroll in higher and tertiary institutions? The answer is simple- entrance examination,” said Sengeh.
He stated that many other countries have been using this method of entering universities which he said aims at creating more healthy academic competition amongst students and not to discredit their transition exams.
“Some argue that it also allows for students to potentially change tracks. If an Arts student wants to study Biology in college, she can now take those entrance exams as long as they have the minimum requirements from the transition exam”, the minister stated. He described it as a fair system.
He pointed out that, no matter where one sits on the discourse of education transformation in Sierra Leone, it is undeniable that adding 38% more students to the school system will yield many more. He added that, out of 206,000 candidates who attempted the national transition exams, about 100,000 (one hundred thousand) of them are eligible for entrance into higher and tertiary institutions.
Sengeh noted that the visible increase in Basic and Senior Secondary Education has been much quicker than in Higher and Tertiary Education. He emphasized that, the entire number of students in the higher and tertiary institutions in 2019 was around 54,000 (fifty four thousand) which he said means more than 2 times the number of candidates are eligible to enter university this year alone than what the entire university system had just 3 years ago.
“The government was expecting this decision, because it has opened new universities and expanded Government Technical Institutes to 10 districts with additional community colleges. There are also several other tertiary institutions that have been opened by private citizens,” he pointed out.
He said over 60% of students in public institutions are supported by government grants, stressing that the investment in education is unprecedented in the country. He further said government has clamped down on education fraud and examination malpractices, even if not totally eliminated, admitting that to eliminate examination malpractices, there’s need for the public to work with the ministry.
He said students should demonstrate a community service portfolio in addition to the entrance exams.
Sengeh called on all Sierra Leoneans to understand the importance of the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) certificate. He said, there are many people who have those certificates that do not want or cannot go to higher and tertiary institutions, but use them to transition into work and other areas of entrepreneurship.
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