Secondary school leaving examinations kicked on Monday morning in South Sudan and the disputed territory of Abyei.
Speaking after witnessing the start of the exams in the capital Juba, Minister of General Education Deng Deng Hoc said everything went as planned and no challenges have been witnessed in all the 261 centres.
Deng noted that exam papers reached various areas in the country except for Latjor and Maiwut States where there are no students sitting there.
The minister, citing an increase in the numbers of candidates, said the number of eligible students for this year’s secondary school leaving exams reached 27,727 students with girls numbering 7,847 and boys 19,540.
According to the minister, majority of students registered for academic examinations, while minority registered for commercial and technical sections of the examinations respectively.
“We are also delighted that our children in the PoCs [Protection of Civilians sites] have also registered to sit the examinations this year. We have 1,914 candidates in 9 PoCs sitting exams in 9 centres,” he said.
“We have also 898 refugees sitting this year’s exams, of which 214 are girls and they are sitting in 5 centres in areas that are close to refugee camps. A total of 965 candidates would sit for their examinations in Arabic in 18 centres, so this is what I can say in terms of figures,” he added.
The minister pointed out that the examinations have been guarded successfully by national security officers and police personnel.
South Sudan's education indicators remain among the worst in the world caused by protracted conflicts and underfunding by the national government.