The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Mr. Alpha Timbo has said in Freetown that out of a total candidates of one hundred and thirty six thousand five hundred and twenty six candidates (136,526,000) who attempted the National Primary School Examinations, eight thousand four hundred and thirty four thousand (8,434) failed the exams.
The Minister added that one hundred and twenty eight thousand and ninety two thousand (128,092,000) passed the exams. It would seem very much an irony that more students would fail the NPSE examinations in the first year of the Free Qulaity Education scheme.
He insinuated that 2018 had more passes both in terms of schools and pupils performance and that the 2019 results which also had over one hundred schools with one hundred percent failures was as a result of stringent measures undertaken by the Ministry with regards examination malpractices.
The Minister disclosed that the Government of Sierra Leone and by extension the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education is determined to nip the issue of examination malpractice on the bud.
A sub-cabinet committee has been set up to seriously look into the issues. The issue of examination malpractice has got a tendency to discredit our educational system and hence we would not take it lightly.