The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Education has instituted a new policy in Secondary School Education that henceforth compels all 9th graders to pass both the School and the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) administered Junior High School National Exam (Liberia’s Junior High School Certificate Exam – JHS) as the prerequisite for transitioning to the Senior High Division at all High Schools across the Country.
Confirming the latest Government’s formed policy within Secondary Schools Education, the Head of the West African Examinations Council (WEAC) Liberia’s Chapter, Mr. Dale Gbotoe admits a designed communication from the Ministry of Education to WAEC-Liberia calling for the newly formed regulation to be put into effect officially beginning the current 2022/2023 academic school year.
According to the WEAC Boss Mr. Gboto, to work collaboratively with the Government of Liberia to ensure the effectiveness of the policy which now compels every ninth grader to pass the Junior High National Exam, WEAC-Liberia based on said regulation has adjusted the structure of this year’s National Exams to allow all nine (9th) graders firstly sit for National Exams on 24th and 25th April across the fifteen counties to enable the WAEC body provides early results before the closure of school across the Country.
“So on the 24th and 25th of April the ninth graders will begin writing their exams; while is it that we the bring the nine graders first? The Government has come up with a new policy that as of this year or beginning this academic year (the current 2022/2023 academic school year) those who will be transitional from junior high to senior high will have to pass both the and the WAEC (Junior High School Certificate Exam) in school accept you or gaining a promotion’’, the WEAC-Liberia Boss disclosed in line to the Government – Ministry of Education’s new policy.
“It is why we are the test bit early so that WAEC will be in the position to come up and release the result before schools close. Over the year we release our results either when schools are about to close or when schools have closed. So this time around we want to release results before schools can close. And so we are going to work in conjunction with the Ministry of Education on this and be cognizant of the calendar of the school year’’ said Mr. Gbotoe.
Times back ninth graders were not compelled to pass the Junior High National Schools Exam administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which over time was been used to abreast junior high students with the basics of the WEAC’s Exam before transitioning to the Senior High Division.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, April 11th, when he appeared on local radio, Mr. Dale Gbotoe further disclosed that in readiness for this year, National Exams WAEC-Liberia will officially on the 24th and 25th kickstart beginning with the Ninth (9th) Graders; for l followed the 26th by Third (3rd) graders, with 27th and 28th to Sixth (6th) graders; before the Twelfth (12th) graders on May 16 to mid-June into the current 2022/2023 academic school year.
Mr. Gbotoe additionally indicated that to ensure the conformity of the released timetables, by WAEC-Liberia has considered every necessary mechanism for administering this year’s National Exams among which he named the arrangement of examination centers in all fifteen counties across Liberia.
He at the same time assures that WAEC-Liberia will work tremendously to ensure that results released at times give out the convenience for schools to proceed with the graduations of senior students and effectively embark on the next academic year.
‘’We have four exams that will be administered this year, three of those four exams are national exams meat for the 9th, 6th, and 3rd graders on the 24th-25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th in April respectively with the: Liberia Junior High Schools Certificate Exam (9th Grade), Liberia Primary Schools Exam (6th Grade) and Liberia National Assessment Test (3rd Grade), and one is the International which is meant as usually for 12th graders that will start on 16 May and the run-up to mid-June’’, and we are all set to administer the exams’’
‘’What happens in the past we use to take 90-day after the administration of the exams to release results, so what we doing to make sure results are released fast is to cut the time from 90 to about 45 days, and as well to introduce a technology aspect to help and make it more convenient for results to come for our schools up there’’, WAEC Head Mr, Gbotoe asserted.
W. Roland James is a Journalist by Profession; a Public Speaker and Interested-Advocate, who is determing to render essential conderable service to the Liberian Society.
He has a passion in Sports reporting, Human interest stories and overall reports from all sectors of relative to the field of journalism. He stands by the belief in the profession that ‘’The Public journal is a public trust; and that a journalist shoud only writes what he/she holds in heart to be true’’.