By Sahr Ibrahim Komba
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has said that Seven Thousand Four Hundred and Fifty Students (7450) will not take the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations for 2023. The communication representative at the Ministry Augustine Bamie Anthony said that this happened because of negligence on the side of some principals. ‘’The Ministry called Principals to a meeting and told them to upload the names of eligible pupils for the 2023 WASSCE but some principals did not follow the procedure on time’’, he said.
The Ministry also conducted head count in order to ascertain the correct number of eligible student for 2023 exams. The head count was part of the transformative process in ensuring quality delivery in education sector, he said.
Anthony further said that the Ministry has never and will never give preference to certain schools over others adding that the Ministry has always preached and maintained inclusive and radical inclusion.
The Executive Director of Civil Right Coalition Alfonso Marley said that there is massive corruption among teachers and principals in government and government assisted schools. He continued that some Principals sometimes take huge amount of money from people who are not in the school system and allow them to write public exams. This had deprived many eligible students from writing public exams, he noted.
He said that Ambassador Bon Wurrie sent One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety –Nine student for public exams in 2022 adding that the said school does not space to accommodate that number of students. He continued that the Ministry gives preference to certain schools. This has encouraged exams malpractice in public exams, he noted. He urged the Ministry and school authorities to implement the teacher code of conduct. He reiterated that teachers and Principal are the touch bearers of morality and must stand firm in the fight against corruption in schools. He called the Ministry to make provision for the pupils to write the exams. ‘’We should not compromise the positive gains made in the education sector’’, he said.
He appealed to government to look into the conditions of service of teachers noting the teachers deserved better conditions of service.
