The South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education Examination on Monday commenced across the country with a strong warning from the National Examination Council (NEC) against malpractice and cheating.

Addressing candidates at Supiri Secondary School in Juba, Simon Nyok Deng, the Secretary General of the South Sudan National Examination Council, said the ground is level for all the candidates and no one has an unfair advantage.

He revealed that they have deployed security agents at all examination centers across the country to curb examination malpractice, warning that exam cheats and those who aid them face four years in jail.

“We have deployed security officers in every examination station across the nation who are working with state security agencies to ensure that the playfield is level,” he said. “No child must have undue advantage over another. So, all forms of exam malpractice are sealed off and we wish that nothing happens. The punishment is severe. We have people in Jail now that were caught and are arraigned in court. You can serve up to four years in jail if you are found to have breached any of our rules whether you are a candidate, a teacher, or anybody, even the security agents.”

“If anyone is caught involved in trying to give a child any advantage they will be dealt with” Nyok stressed.

He revealed that the number of candidates, including girls, sitting for the examination this year has increased compared to last year.

“There are 35,459 candidates including over 12,000 girls partaking in this examination and we are happy that the numbers keep rising,” Nyok said. “We hope that as we continue to invest in education the ratio between boys and girls will narrow and this is what the government is pushing. 12,000 girls is a good number and we wish them all the best in the exams.”

He revealed that 47 displaced candidates from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) and over 1,500 from Unity State, are sitting their exams in Juba as a result of the conflict.  

Meanwhile, Central Equatoria State Deputy Governor Sarah Nene urged the candidates to be confident and wished them luck.

“Be calm as you go for the examination. My wish is for you all to get good results and I want to see you all go to universities, even abroad,” she said. “My wish is for Central Equatoria State to have students pass in the top best 10 because you are in the city and therefore cannot be the last. Do your best so that we celebrate your success in two months.”

Relatedly, the minister of education in Jonglei State said 1, 429 candidates including 200 females will write the country’s Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) across the state starting Monday.

Unfortunately, 2 out of 9 counties will miss out on the national exercise due to insecurity.

Minister Gabriel Deng Ajak told Radio Tamazuj over the weekend that all arrangements have been made and the examination papers have been delivered to centers across the state.

“As of this (Friday) evening, I can confirm to you that examination papers are delivered to examination centers in the entire Jonglei. We are set for Monday,” he said. “1,429 candidates will sit the exams. Female candidates are 200. Our security is deployed across all the centers to monitor the exams.”

The education minister said insecurity and cultural practices could have contributed to the registration of few candidates.

“These candidates are distributed across the state. However, no candidates are sitting in Fangak and Pigi counties because of insecurity caused by non-state actors last year,” Minister Deng explained. “For Twic East, their candidates are sitting in Bor town and Mangalla because of the floods.”

On his part, Kuony Wal, the Nyirol County education director, said they are happy that the examinations will be delivered to the county for the first time in a decade.

“We received a team from Juba with exam papers last (Friday) evening. We are now waiting to start the exams on Monday,” he said. “We are happy that the ministry delivered the papers. It is the first time there will be exams in Nyirol since 2013. We have 84 candidates including 3 females who will sit the exams at Gundeng Secondary School.”