By Abass Jalloh
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Dr. David Sengeh, has stated that the results of the 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) that are yet to be published will be reviewed.
Dr. Sengeh made the statement yesterday 29 September at the weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communications in Freetown.
“Those withheld results are for those who were suspected of [examination] malpractice,” the minister said, noting that it is the mandate of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to release all results and that MBSSE only publishes what WAEC releases to them.
“You want me and WAEC to release results that are suspected of malpractice; they will review them, and they are yet to be reviewed," he noted, adding that they “crackdown on the malpractice”.
The minister went on to say that while he believes that malpractice happens every year, they have over the years replaced invigilating teachers caught in examination malpractices, and have trained more, changed the curriculum, and produced a communique on examination malpractices.
The WASSCE results were announced on Monday 26th September by Dr. Sengeh which saw Kenema district topping the chart.
For the two leading core subjects in Sierra Leone, the pass rate with credits for the English Language is 63% while Mathematics is 90%.
Talking about the inconsistencies of passes or requirements of compulsory subjects in the faculties of Arts, Commercial, and Science, the minister discouraged the idea that students should not likely pass subjects that are in their area of interest.
Referencing Mathematics that students passed the most, Dr. Sengeh expressed dissatisfaction saying: “this idea that we have for Maths… As a people we have to unlearn. We have to hold our children and give them their level of respect and regard and help them learn”.
The minister also criticised those parents and students who usually pay money for taking the WASSCE, and those who remove their children from private schools in the lower class to take the exam, saying that this will inculcate dishonesty in them.
In the recent announcement that students must have a National Identification Number (NIN) before taking the WASSCE, the minister stated that going to a higher technical university requires an ID number.
“It is your right to get a national ID number. It is also a case where [for example] if you are working as an employee working at the Ministry of Information and you want to take the WASSCE, we will know that you are from the ministry and you want to take the exam,” he said.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (30/09/22)
