Simon Nyok Deng, the Secretary General of the South Sudan National Examination Council during press briefing on Tuesday - Octo. 18, 2022 - Charles Wote/Eye Radio

The National Examination Council (NEC) announced it will start marking the primary and secondary leaving exams on February 19 after receiving 2 billion South Sudan pounds – which is only 28% of the required budget – from the finance ministry.

On February 2, NEC Secretary General Simon Nyok confirmed it was behind schedule in marking the 2024-2025 secondary and primary exams, warning there would be no Senior One class as schools reopen.

While the law dictates that examination papers must be released one or two months after it’s taken, marking has not kicked off more than two months later, due to what was blamed on financial constraints.

However, in press conference held on Tuesday, Simon Nyok confirmed the cash release but said it is short of the 7 billion needed for marking the exams.

“The money that we have received is not enough, it is just an amount that will enable us to begin the work as we continue to engage with the National Ministry of Finance,” Nyok said.

“They have advanced to us 2 billion pounds and we needed 7 billion to complete the marking of the two exams. So, we still have huge amount outstanding that we will need.”

“We will continue to engage with them, we know the situation that our country is in, but we are very optimistic that the government will availing these recourse, so that the children can get their results and move on with their lives.”

Nyok appealed to parents, candidates, and all stakeholders to bear with the council as it works diligently to process and release the examination results.

A record 79,010 pupils – including 35,735 are girls and 43,275 are boys – sat for Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) from 551 centers across South Sudan in November 2024.

This was followed by the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) exams where 50,000 candidates sat in 319 centers on December 2, amid logistical challenges in some states due to the widespread floods.

A civil society organization called for immediate intervention regarding the financial challenges which have delayed the marking of primary and secondary leaving examination papers for months.

In a statement on February 4, Integrity South Sudan described the persistent complaints by the examination council about lack of budget as a systematic failure by the government to prioritize education.

In 2024, former vice president Hussein Abdelbagi urged inclusion of exams marking costs in fiscal year budgets to avoid results delay after the education ministry took eight months to complete the marking of 2023-2024 SSCSE exams.