The government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), has released the 2022 National Primary School Examination (NPSE) results, capturing Falaba district in the North, scoring 92.7 percent, followed by Bonthe district in the South with 91.8 percent, and Koinadugu district in the North with 87.6 percent.
On the 2022 NPSE results, the top ten best performing districts are, in the North, Falaba, Koinadugu, Bombali, and Tonkolili districts respectively; in the South, Pujehum, and Bonthe districts; in the East, Kenema, and Kailahun; and the two Western Urban and Rural districts; while the poor performing districts are three in the North, Port Loko, Karene, and Kambia; two in the South, Bo and Moyamba; and one in the East, Kono.
In the last seven years, spanning 2016 to 2022, the pattern of NPSE results has been fluctuating in terms of the number of pupils that failed and that of those that passed.
In the last seven years, a total of 967,200 pupils have taken the National Primary School Examination in the 16 districts nationwide. The results from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education have seen a decrease in the number of failed pupils between 2016 and 2018, while the number of passes has increased.
Between 2019 and 2020, there was a sharp increase in the number of failed pupils with a decrease in the number of passes in the country, which might not be unconnected with the introduction of the government’s Free Quality Education immediately after the elections. However, from 2020 to 2022, for the first time in its seven-year history, the ministry recorded a record increase in the number of passes and failures countrywide.
In 2016, the ministry recorded 37.3 percent of girls' passes, 38 percent of boys' passes, and 24.7 percent failed. In the following years, 2017 and 2018, the percentage of passed students increased to 39.2 percent for girls and 40.1 percent for boys, respectively, while the percentage of failed students decreased from 21.2 to 20.8 percent.
The academic calendar was rough for both the ministry and the pupils, especially between 2019 and 2020. During this period, there was an increase in the number of pupils that failed the public exams as compared to those that passed. In 2019, 24.2 percent of students failed, and in 2020, the number rose by two percent to 25.9 percent, the highest level in the previous seven years. Female pass numbers decreased from 37.3 percent in 2019 to 36.3 percent in 2020, while male pass numbers decreased from 38.5 percent in 2019 to 37.8 percent in 2020.
There is a likelihood that the government, through the ministry, the teachers, and the pupils were finding it difficult to get it right, especially with the Free Quality Education program. notices of strike actions from teachers who were persistently calling on the government’s attention to the quality aspect of its flagship program. The government and the opposition to the system, coping with infrastructure, increased enrolment, inclusive education, and the incorporation of out-of-school children, especially teenage pregnant mothers, were likely some of the challenges that resulted in that poor performance.
However, in 2021 and 2022, the ministry was on top of the situation with a historic record of the highest number of passes and a record decrease in the number of pupils that failed nationwide. The percentage of females who passed in 2021 was 38.7 percent. This figure increased by 2% to 40.9 percent in 2022, while the male figure was 38.4 percent in 2021 and increased to 40.2 percent in 2022. In total, in the past seven years, a total of 967,200 pupils took the NPSE examinations, out of which 371,441 females, representing 38.4 percent, passed the exams, while 377,057 males, accounting for 39 percent, passed, and 218,702, or 22.6 percent, failed the examination in the past five years spanning 2016 to 2022.
However, going by the 2022 NPSE released results from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, the districts with the highest number of failed results include; Kono with 5,232; Western Urban with 4,782, Bo with 3,941, Westerns Rural with 3,931, Port Loko 3,361, Kambia 2,758, Tonkolili 2,518, Moyamba 2,241, Karene 1,971, Kenema 1,581, and Bombali 1,448, and Kailahun 1,225 pupils.
However, the ministry, with the intervention of mobile operators, has assisted parents with the shortcode method of checking their children’s or ward NPSE results using the following steps:
STEP ONE: Send the word RESULT to 468 (SMS)
STEP TWO: Select Option 1
STEP THREE: Enter the ID Number of the candidate
STEP FOUR: Receive your result.
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