43 students abandon primary exams in Tonj North over insecurity

JUBA – South Sudan’s ministry of general education and instruction has reported that as of this morning, it is unable to locate students sitting for the Primary Leaving Examination in Tonj North County, Warrap State, after the students failed to show up due to insecurity.

A total of 79,010 students are sitting for the 2024 Certificate of Primary Education exams across the country starting today.

Of these, 79,010 students, including 35,735 females and 43,275 males, are taking the exams at 551 centres located across South Sudan’s various states and administrative areas.

Speaking to journalists during the exam launch in Juba on Monday, Simon Nyok Deng, Secretary General of the South Sudan National Examination Council (SSNEC), said the exams proceeded largely as planned, except in Tonj North, where 43 students failed to show up.

“We expect the report we got this morning is that all the children are ready to partake in the exams with the exception of some cases where we will account by the end of the day of the presence of some candidates because of communal violence somewhere in Tonj North,” he said.

“They are about 43 candidates, but we are trying to locate them. And I hope that they will show up for exams,” he added.

He continued, “But we are sure, we are making sure that all the candidates are reached. We will have the full account by the end of the day that all the candidates have shown up for exams.”

Despite the challenges, Simon said the government, through its security forces, is working to locate the students to enable them to sit for their exams. Some students have also been affected by flooding, which has made transporting the exams difficult.

“So, it has actually been difficult for us, but we thank God that we’ve managed. With all the efforts of security sectors and all the commitment, the resilience, the commitments of the team that we sent, we’ve done our part,” Simon added.