Students from St. Kizito Primary School perform a song during a seminar on gender-based violence and the risks of early and forced marriage at their school in Juba on Friday, October 25, 2024. — Courtesy

A lawmaker has urged the parliament to summon the Minister of General Education and Instruction to explain the delay in releasing the Senior Four examination results, nearly eight months after the exams were conducted.

In December 2024, more than 50,000 candidates sat for the national secondary school exams at 319 centers. However, the results are yet to be released despite repeated promises from officials to announce them since June.

Speaking during a parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, MP Felix Bale expressed concern over the delay and accused the education ministry of giving false assurances.

“It is  important for a country to have a fixed date for releasing examination results. In the past, results were always out in February each year. But now, with the last certificate and this one, there’s a problem, it’s taking too long. It’s almost 8 or 9 months before results are released. Even for students who may have failed, how are they supposed to cope with that delay?” he said.

“As a House, we need the Minister of Education to come and explain why this keeps happening. He always shifts the blame to the Minister of Finance, but even the Finance Minister should be warned. There are some important issues that we cannot keep making excuses for,” he added.

Following a brief debate, the Speaker ruled that the matter will be addressed by the parliamentary Committee on Education.

MP Kom Kom Geng supported the Speaker’s decision, saying the issue should be handled at the committee level.

However, MP Gatkouth Wat opposed the ruling and called on the Speaker to summon the education minister directly to appear before the full House.

Last month, Simon Nyok, the Secretary-General of the National Examination Council, told Eye Radio that the marking of the Senior Four exams had been completed and the results were expected to be released by the end of July.