Secondary Four students parade on Monday, December 4, 2023, before commencing their final exams. (Photo: Awan Moses)

The National Ministry of General Education and Instruction is set to announce the South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education (SSCSE) examination results on Thursday, after a grueling eight-month wait that has left students and parents frustrated.

At least 45,000 students who set for the CSE exams in December 2023 have been stranded – as the 2024-2025 academic calendar draws to conclusion while the country is supposedly headed for elections.

Some parents have voiced deep frustration over the delay in marking and unveiling the results, a situation blamed on lack of funding from the government over the economic crisis.

Addressing a press conference for the examination results announcement on Thursday, Education Minister Awut Deng Acuil said the journey through the process has not been easy for the entire education fraternity.

“Our invigilators have to walk through streams and swamps to ensure that every candidate has the right to sit for his or her examination. Our government had to raise fund to all the examination stages despite the economic crisis facing the country.”

“Our team at the examination secretariat had to work 7 days a week to ensure that examinations are processed and results are availed to the council in spite of the unnecessary delays that has been caused by economic situation in the country.”

Minister Awut decried challenges facing the conduct of national examinations including inadequate transportation to the states and delayed disbursement of exams budget from the finance ministry.

Newly appointed finance minister, Dr. Marial Dongrin, recently said in parliament that his team was working to release the money needed for marking and processing the delayed examination results.

Public expenditure on education in South Sudan is said to be one of the lowest in the world, with low investment and low capacity, amid an administration and management weakened by conflicts.

The Institute of Development Studies indicates that teachers in the country remain poorly and irregularly paid – leading to qualified teachers deserting for better-paying jobs.

This has resulted in schools hiring primary and secondary school leavers with limited proficiency in English – the language of instruction.

Last month, four primary schools indefinitely suspended learning in Juba – sending thousands of pupils home after fed-up teachers failed to show up at schools over months of unpaid salaries.