By Ragan M. Conteh
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has revealed that they are aware that about 248 schools with a total number of about (10,000+) candidates are left out of the 2024 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), largely due to the negligence of a good number of authorities/leaders who never attempted to even register their candidates nor did they solicit any assistance from WAEC in terms of technical problems.
According to the release from the MBSSE, “we are concerned and deeply disturbed by such unpardonable act.”
The Ministry also makes it abundantly clear to the general public that Government remains unwavering in its commitment in providing an equitable and inclusive educational opportunity for all Sierra Leonean children.
It therefore remains the moral and collective obligation of the Ministry to ensure that innocent and deserving students do no suffer the burden of this negligence on the part of their school principals.
As a demonstration of government’s continuous commitment to cushion financial burden on parents, government is contemplating to pay for eligible regular school going children to sit the Private WASSCE in November 2024.
The release further stated that, the general public, parents/guardians should however be informed that this goodwill by the government is strictly for eligible, regular school going children, who must have sat to and passed the BECE between 2020 and 2021 that qualifies them to take WASSCE.
In respect of that, the Ministry further says that, all authorities/leaders of the affected schools, who strongly believe that they have legitimate case to make for their candidates, are requested to submit to the Office of the Deputy Chief Education Officer, MBSSE, the following verifiable documents in respect of their schools and candidates.
They must submit updated School Register for SSS3 Class, BECE Results for the Candidates (2020-2021), Birth Certificates, School Identification Number and School Approval Letter.
The Ministry is also requesting for the submission of list of candidates from School Heads for those students whose PASS marks were not uploaded to the portal for the May/June 2024 WASSCE currently in progress.
According to the Ministry, the deadline for this submission is 10th June 2024.
The release further stated that this will allow the Ministry to determine the actual number of candidates Government will be paying for at the Private WASSCE in November 2024.
Furthermore, Parents/Guardians and School authorities should know that the Ministry is very determined to instill and maintain discipline in the management of the Exams. Therefore, any School that FAILS to adhere to these given directives will bear the brunt of paying for those candidates and the Ministry will use its might to ensure that every child who takes the Private WASSCE their expenses will be taken care of by the defaulting Schools.