The Member of Parliament from Kono district, Honourable Paul Sahr Sam, on Monday 23rd November 2020 informed Parliament that despite government’s 22 percent allocation to the education sector not a single pupil obtained 5 credits to qualify for university in Kono on the just released West Africa Senior School Examination (WASSCE) result.
According to the MP, some fifteen thousand pupils took the 2020 WASSCE exams, but to their greatest surprise not a single candidate got full requirements for university and only nine pupils managed to get five credits which was not sufficient to enter university. The MP urged the government to put more attention to the education sector particularly primary education, which he said is the foundation for better education, pointing out that the Teachers no longer have passion for their job.
Hon. Sam disclosed that most teacher in remote communities are form two (Junior Secondary School 2) drop outs with no experience in teaching, and they are clearly responsible for the poor performances of schools in those areas. He added that pupils in remote communities sit on the floor while others sit on stones due to lack of furniture and proper school infrastructure.
“If the Government is allocating 22 percent of the national budget to education and the results that are coming out from public exams are appalling, then there is the need for urgent attention,” he said, adding that Parliament should set up a Committee that should work in line with the Committee on Education to engage with officials from the Education Ministry to know the reasons for the appalling results.
Hon Sam opined that some teachers are in the habit of requesting monies from pupils to assist them during exams. This he said is responsible for the pupils not paying serious attention to their studies. He argued that with the introduction stringent measures during the exams the results is what is in public the domain now with massive failures.
“This Parliament is always approving the education budget but the outcome always lacks quality,” he said, lamenting that the entire Kono district only have two schools inspectors that are on government payroll, which according to him is also responsible for the bad performance of the pupils as the supervisors are not capacitated to do monitoring effectively. With this the Chief Whip in Parliament, Hon Dickson Rogers, suggested that Parliament requests for quality (top level) representation from the Ministries of Education to witness the budget debate, so that the debate will add value to their operations.
According to Hon Abdul Karim Kamara, one of the main reasons why the WASSCE results are deplorable is the delay in the publication of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), explaining that in most cases Senior Secondary School (SSS1) pupils miss out on classes in the first term because the results come out towards the end of the term. He opined that even when they get to school during the second term, most of the school’s social activities are being held during that period which also affect the academic calendar, adding that once the pupils get to SSS-3 they only attend classes for few months as the WASSCE exams starts in April after few months of classes.
In response to these revelations, the Speaker of Parliament, Hon Abass Bundu, said it is extra ordinary for a whole district to be without a single WASSCE candidate with university requirement, adding that he is sure that will not be the only district. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Hon Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, however suggested that Parliament invites the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to come and explain to them about the performance of pupils in public examinations.
Hon Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella also supported the suggestion, disclosing that he is astonished with the revelations from Kono on the recently published WASSCE exams.
By Alhaji Manika Kamara