An estimated 53,220 candidates have begun their certificate of primary education examination, with 31,232 males and 21,988 females across the country. This is the second exam that is being done under the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of General Education and Instruction, together with its education partners, has done well by putting more effort into ensuring that the children continue to learn despite the challenges of COVID-19 and floods. Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has been struck by floods that have affected half of the total area of the country, and seven out of the 10 states have been affected.

Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and several schools have been submerged in water, but the Ministry of Education, through the help of its partners-United Nations Children’s Fund Agency (UNICEF) was able to provide an alternative learning programme to the children.

According to UNICEF, the widespread flooding has affected 121 health facilities, 846 schools across the country. Nevertheless, most of the flood-affected learners had been provided with alternative learning programmes.

After undergoing several difficulties, the children, with the support of the donor community, are now sitting for their final exams. We wish them a very successful examination. 

We would also like to encourage the pupils currently sitting for their secondary school promotion exams to not worry or panic in the course of their attempts to answer the question.

The taking of any final examination is a determinant of a brighter future for the country and individuals. The growth of any nation depends on the manpower of its citizens, so these little children taking the exams have achievements that contribute to the level of literacy in the country that, subsequently, leads to the growth of manpower in the next four years to come.

Despite several challenges and the oddity of climate change, we urge them not to worry about the conditions, especially those who have to struggle several distances and walk through streams of water to take their exams.

For the last two weeks, towards the start of the Certificate of Primary Education Examination 2022, The City Review newspaper has been publishing the previous examination past papers for 2020 to help the candidates in their revision work. The intention was to improve the culture of reading among the candidates, as well as examine their ability to face the final examination.

We need to encourage a culture of reading among our children, not just to pass the exams but to enable them to attain the knowledge that they will need to use for the rest of their lives.  In most cases, students tend to cram books instead of reading them. They mainly do it just to pass the exams, but any piece of information that is acquired through cramming may vanish from your brain at any time. Once the information disappears from your brain, you hardly recall them.

We wish them success in their exams.