The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Sierra Leone has assured parents that withheld National Primary School Examination (NPSE) results will be released before schools reopen in September, subject to the resolution of outstanding issues.

WAEC Public Affairs Officer Salieu Kamara said the withheld results involve three main categories: missing continuous assessment scores, candidates who were not properly registered, and suspected examination irregularities.

Kamara explained that WAEC withheld 1,648 results from 61 schools after the schools failed to submit the required continuous assessment scores (CASS) for their pupils.

He said most of the affected schools have since begun submitting the outstanding assessments, allowing WAEC to process their results.

Related News

“We withheld 1,648 results from 61 schools because they did not submit the continuous assessment scores of their pupils. This was why we decided to set them aside and released the majority,” he revealed.

A separate 337 results from seven schools were withheld over unpaid examination fees linked to the failure of the schools to register their pupils through the WAEC portal before registration closed.

Kamara said the government normally covers examination fees for candidates whose names are properly captured on the portal. However, pupils from the affected schools were still allowed to sit the examination despite the registration issue.

“We also had 337 results withheld from seven schools because of non-payment of fees, which was due to schools’ failure to register their pupils on the portal. Usually, the government pays for candidates whose names are on the portal. So, these are the schools that did not register their candidates before we closed the portal,” he also stated.

He said WAEC made the decision to allow the pupils to sit the examination because preventing them from taking their first public examination would have unfairly punished them for mistakes made by their schools.

“These are kids who had studied for six years, and being driven out of exams because of the negligence of their schools would have been unfair to them. So, we made them sit the exams while their schools pay the cost the government initially supposed to bear.”

The third category concerns candidates linked to examination irregularities. Kamara said WAEC recorded 326 cases involving issues such as collusion in answers, mistakes, and “the flow of answering the questions.”

He said some of the cases were connected to reports from stakeholders concerning individuals involved in registering candidates and fabricating continuous assessment records for pupils who were “unqualified” to sit the examination.

According to Kamara, WAEC is responsible for investigating the allegations before referring cases to the appropriate committee for a decision.

“Our mandate is to investigate these cases and present them to our committee. The case will be presented to the Sierra Leone Examinations Committee, who will determine the cancellation of the results.”

Kamara said the release of results in the first two categories will depend on schools completing the necessary requirements, including submitting CASS and settling outstanding fees.

He assured parents that WAEC intends to complete the process before schools reopen in September, provided the affected schools meet the requirements and candidates are cleared of examination malpractice.

“Once all the 61 schools submit their CASS today, we will release their results before this week ends. We know parents want to make preparations for their children,” he states.

He added: “And once those who are supposed to pay do so, we will immediately release their results,” he assured.