By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Executive Director of Civil Rights Coalition (CRC), Alphonso Manley has on Wednesday 5th January 2022 during a Press Conference held at the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists Hall on Campbell Street in Freetown issued a 7 Days ultimatum to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) in order to, in a transparent and expeditious manner, remark answer scripts of pupils of the Modern High School, who sat to the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The wakeup call came after parents of pupils of the Modern High School, who took the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) ,requested the services of Lawyer Ibrahim Tommy Esq to question the Hon. Minister of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) ,Dr. Moinina David Sengeh, about the 2021 WASSCE particularly for the school and to ensure that the answer scripts be remarked in a transparent and expeditious manner.
Alphonso Manley pointed out that the Management of the Modern High School has carefully analyzed the results of most of the pupils who took the WASSCE in 2021, including the results of their usually top performing students, and have come to the regrettable but informed conclusion that the results do not remotely reflect the abilities of the pupils and their collective determination to excel in that exam of which he said they are urging that the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) to remark the answer scripts of pupils.
He disclosed that they are giving a 7 Days ultimatum to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) to heed to their call if not they will be left with no option but to stage a peaceful protest on the 11th January 2022.
Speaking to those in attendance at the briefing in tears, Enokemeh Ama Bertin, former Senior Prefect of the Modern High School, who happens to be one of the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) pupils, she expressed dissatisfaction with their WASSCE results and also requested that WAEC undertakes a careful and scrupulous remarking of the answer scripts in a transparent and accountable manner.
She stated that as pupils they have dreamt of been successful in their academic pursuits with the hope of being on their ways to different universities which, according to her, they are definitely certain they deserve and eventually becoming the graduates they are longing to become in the mere future.
“The outcome of our result which I will state brought us nothing but tears which we don’t merit, we are certain that what the West African Examination Council (WAEC) dished out to us is not what we deserve. Our rights as children and girls in particular have been violated and we wish to plead on the good offices of the relevant authorities to hastily come our aid by reviewing our answer scripts,” she lamented and demanded.
One of the parents of the pupils, Gladys Lansana, stated that as parents they are aware of the fact that the school has over the last decade done a brilliant job by preparing and presenting good candidates for public examinations and the fair assessment of their pupils’ abilities and strength assured them that their children certainly performed better than what the 2021 results showed.
She maintained that as parents they are with the firm conviction that the grades attributed to or provided to their children are at variance with their consistent high performance maintaining how they believe that the outcome would be completely different if the scripts are remarked or reviewed under the supervision of independent actors including the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE).
Gladys Lansana maintained that as parents they are joining the call for the remarking the scripts.
She concluded by calling on the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) and all relevant authorities to hastily look into the issue and treat it with the utmost seriousness it requires as the name of the institution (West Africa Examination Council) is under serious questioning or is at stake.
