Awut Deng Acuil, National Minister of General Education and Instructions © AFP 2022 / TONY KARUMBA

The Minister of General Education and Instruction Thursday urged students to prioritize integrity over ‘machot’, during examinations, urging students to uphold honesty.

Minister Awut Deng Acuil made the remarks at the launch of the school materials in Juba on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

In South Sudan, exam cheating, commonly referred to as ‘machot’, has gained notoriety.

In December 2023, Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi directed strict measures against malpractice during the ongoing Senior Four exams, including cancelling papers and prosecution of any custodian caught aiding.

Abelbagi made the remarks as 45,000 students embarked on their Certificate of Secondary Education examination across South Sudan.

He directed the Minister of General Education and Instruction to cancel any examinations suspected to have been compromised and to hold accountable anyone found aiding or abetting cheating.

Abdelbagi also urged the students to uphold honesty and integrity during the examinations.

Awut says students should not cheat during examinations if they love their country.

“Children of South Sudan, if you love this country, the same determination that your soldiers demonstrated to free, to be the first citizens, then you should not be thinking about machot (cheating) at all because you are bright children and leaders of tomorrow,” Awut emphasized.

“You did not go to school to be given machot, you went to school to acquire knowledge to help you resolve problems that are facing South Sudan,” she continued.

“Don’t wait in the class that the teacher will give you ‘machot’ at the end of the day, it is not going to happen,” she concluded firmly.

In October 2023, Frank Mpungu, the Deputy Head Teacher for Administration at Juba Academy Secondary School warned that examination cheating practices will negatively affect the quality of education in the country.

He said exam cheating is an academic dishonesty that impacts quality education and sustainable development.

Mpungu criticized the exam malpractices saying students who cheat will acquire good grades but not knowledge.

Since 2017, reports of exam leakage, alleged marking of exams by selected university students instead of teachers and cheating during exams have become major challenges in the education sector.