27,145 students to sit secondary school exams in S. Sudan

December 7, 2019 (JUBA) – A total of 27,145 students will sit this year’s South Sudanese secondary exams countrywide, an official disclosed.

Speaking to reporters in Juba on Friday, Simon Nyok Deng, the secretary-general for the national examinations council, said 7,763 girls will sit secondary school leaving exams from December 16-24.

He said secondary school exams will be conducted in 261 centres across the country.

The official, however, downplayed fears of insecurity saying the government has secured all examination centres across the country.

“The national examinations in the Republic of South Sudan are treated as high stake examinations and therefore they are guarded by a well-disciplined team of national security and police,” he said.

The exams, Deng said, will be distributed in various parts of the country with the exception of Latjor and Maiwut States where no student registered following the closure of schools within the region.

“Latjor and Maiwut have not presented their candidates due to the closure of schools during the conflict. They are now reopening the schools and they have no candidates who are prepared for the exams,” he stressed.

South Sudan has one of the world’s highest illiteracy rates due to the civil war that has killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions since mid-December 2013.

(ST)