By James Chatim 

South Sudan National Ministry of General Education’s 2024 primary and secondary teachers’ assessment in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State has showed majority of them failed the qualification exams.

In May 2024, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Ministry of Education conducted an assessment examination for secondary school teachers to determine the level of their capacities and qualifications.

Additionally, in June 2024, the state ministry announced assessment exams to evaluate primary teachers’ competencies across the state. The assessment exams covered subjects that included; Mathematics, English and Civic Education, and were supervised by Rumbek University of Science and Technology.

However, on Saturday, December 21, when the National Ministry of General Education and Instruction officially released the results for the Qualifications Exams, to assess the competency of these teachers, only 53 out of 383 teachers passed the Secondary School Teachers’ Assessment exams, while only 3,007 out of 8,845 teachers passed the Primary School Teachers Assessment exams carried out in June 2024 across the five counties in the state.

The report further revealed that female teachers are underrepresented and at least 200 teachers are suffering from partial or total vision loss, which affects their performance.

The report revealed that the teachers in both primary and secondary levels performed poorly, with majority failing the examinations.

The report also highlighted gender imbalance, revealing that female teachers remain underrepresented, particularly in some areas like Aweil South County, where there were no female secondary school teachers.

The National Ministry of General Education recommended proactive recruitment efforts and the need to bring more females into teaching roles.

The ministry also recommended further training and professional development opportunities for the teachers who failed the assessment examinations.

A statement published by the office of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State stated that the results serve as a wake-up call for stakeholders in the education sector and for the state. The Governor stated that he would work for the welfare of teachers in an effort to improve the quality of education in the state.

In his part, the Academic Registrar at the Rumbek University of Science and Technology, Matthew Malou Mariec emphasized on the importance of addressing the systemic challenges revealed by the assessments, saying: “Our teachers are the backbone of education in this state. We must ensure they are equipped, supported and accelerated for their efforts.”