In an official press release dated the 26th of June 2020, The Government of Sierra Leone announced that schools would reopen on the 1st of July 2020 for students sitting for standard examinations (National Primary School Exam (NPSE), Basic Education Certificate Exams (BECE) and the West African Senior Secondary School Exams (WASSCE)), just a couple of months, and in some cases just a few weeks, before the examinations are due to take place in August and September. Naturally many of the teachers, parents and the students themselves were concerned that they were not prepared to attempt any sort of exam at such short notice and after such a long break from their studies. After consulting with the schools’ teachers, parents and other key stakeholders from Street Child supported schools in remote rural areas across the country, we saw the urgent need to support such children in preparation for their exams.
These exams mark the transition from one stage of education to the next and the financial demand for parents to prepare their children for these exams is very high. Though the government pays the main exam fees for every child, children often find themselves simply unable to sit their exams because their parents cannot fund the other costs associated with sitting the exams, such as revision materials, exam writing materials and transport costs. These exams act as the hallmarks in our education system and all too often parents find it hard to support their children to sit, and succeed in, these exams which often results in high rates of drop-outs at crucial transitional stages in their education, from primary into junior secondary (JSS) and JSS into senior secondary school (SSS).
Exam preparation classes for year six students at the R C Primary School in Kainkordu, Soa Chiefdom, Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone. Exam preparation classes for year six students at the R C Primary School in Kainkordu, Soa Chiefdom, Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone.
In 130 remote rural primary schools across Northern and Eastern provinces, Street Child is, therefore, carrying out remedial evening classes for primary school level students preparing for their upcoming NPSEs scheduled for the 3rd of August. The catch-up sessions which generally take place in the evening (between 16:00 – 18:00 pm) from Monday to Friday, cover core subjects like English, Maths and practice a more general paper comprising of science, social and business studies. These classes have gone a long way to help build parents’ confidence that their children will be able to take and achieve good results in the exams.
For these students, revision materials, mostly in the form of past papers and multiple-choice shading sheets, have also been provided to each school to ensure they have enough mock exams questions to practice with. Not only have these revision materials helped the students to become familiar with the layout of the exam and in turn, become for confident in their ability but it has allowed the teachers to determine areas of the syllabus where more support may be needed. Students at all 130 primary schools have also been provided with the stationery required to sit their exams which has been a great relief for many of the parents, and a timely intervention, as many would have otherwise found it difficult to afford these items with the current hardships faced due to COVID-19. And for children who have lost their parents to the virus, this has also been their only means of acquiring the materials needed to take their exams.
One of the greatest sources of relief for both students’ parents and caregivers has been the provision of transport support to the examination centres, without which some of the children could not have travelled to their exams at all or would have had to walk very long distances to take their exams which could have left many sick and tired on the day of the exams, affecting their concentration and ability to succeed.
Handwashing station provided by Street Child of Sierra Leone to the students and staff of Ahmadiyya Primary School, Kondembaia, Koinadugu District, Northern Sierra Leone
To make the school environment safe for their return, Street Child has also provided each of the schools with handwashing facilities and prior training was given to the teachers on the importance of key preventative measures including social distancing, the wearing of masks and good hygiene practices.
This support, which has been a timely intervention and provided for exactly one month now, has directly benefitted over 1,000 children in remote rural areas in Sierra Leone. It is expected that this support will help each child improve on their performance in the exams hall and subsequently successfully transition into JSS. We pray that the children have a very nice day with good weather to keep them in high spirits.