By Lemuella Tarawallie
The All People’s Congress (APC) Whip in Parliament, Honourable Abdul Karim Kamara (AKK), on Tuesday stood on Parliamentary Standing Order (S.O) 23 and emotional raised a concern about schools whose pupils were disqualified from taking the 2024/2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) usually conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
On top of the list of the affected 120 schools nationwide is the Methodist Girls High School from which about 400 girls were disqualified.
Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara (AKK) emphasised that this was the fifth year in a row in which hundreds of pupils were deprived from sitting their WASSCE, adding that this was very painful for the pupils as WAEC would be changing to a new syllabus.
The APC Whip stated that in 2023, a whole female school in Magburaka, in northern Sierra Leone, was left out. He added that this year, 400 girls were left out from schools in Freetown, Kambia, and Kenema. He disclosed that last year also, the Mathora Girls’ School in Magburaka, northern Sierra Leone, recorded over 560 disqualified girls.
Hon. AKK squarely laid the blame on WAEC for such disqualifications, noting that the problem was not caused by the principal nor the Ministry of Basic Education because while the candidates would have been verified; WAEC would close the portal and prevent the candidates from taking WASSCE.
He opined that the Government of Sierra Leone could not be talking about empowering girls whilst WAEC was busy depriving them from achieving their empowerment.
Responding, Speaker Sengepoh Solomon Thomas of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) assured Hon. AKK that his points were well noted. He then ordered the Minister of Basic Education, through the Clerk of Parliament, to appear before the leadership of parliament yesterday.