Claim: “It’s the first time in history for schools in Liberia to reopen without WASSCE results.”
Source: Mr. J. Francis Karpu, former Development Superintendent of Margibi County
False; schools in Liberia have previously reopened without National Examination Results.
Full Text: J. Francis Karpu, former Development Superintendent of Margibi County who is a supporter of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change, took to his official Facebook page early Monday, September 9, 2024, and posted that the country is reopening schools without the official national exam; the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) results from WAEC.
Karpu criticized the current state of the Liberian education sector under the President Joseph Boakai administration headed by Dr. Jaso Marley Jallah.
This post generated 16 likes and 34 comments, of which most of the comments are against the Education Ministry.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an examination board established by law to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the English-speaking West African countries, to conduct the examinations and to award certificates comparable to those of equivalent examining authorities internationally.
After years of war, Liberia reactivated its membership and began taking the exams again. Sometime in 2016, the Ministry of Education and the national WAEC office piloted administering the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), an upgrade from the previous WAEC exam, now taken by sister countries.
Established in 1952, the council conducts exit examinations in 5 English-speaking countries of West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia). The council has an endowment fund to contribute to education in West Africa through lectures and aid to those who cannot afford education.
The exam tests four core subjects, namely: English, mathematics, integrated science, social studies, and three or four elective subjects. Students sitting the exams must take a minimum of eight subjects and a maximum of nine subjects from the three-subject category.
The introduction of the WASSCE as opposed to the Liberian WAEC is meant to make our students, who successfully pass, enroll in universities not only in Liberia but internationally.
Verification: To verify this claim, we contacted Mr. Dale Gbotoe, WAEC boss, who refuted the claim and termed it as false.
Calling on Karpu to desist from politicizing the education sector, Gbotoe explained that before 2020, WAEC Liberia had been releasing results at least 90 days after the examinations were administered, unlike now, when they have transitioned to releasing results 45 days after.
“WAEC has been releasing results 90 days after the exams before 2020 and all through, students have been going to school; unlike from 2020 to present, we have been releasing results 45 days after the tests; why only now?” Maybe he has not been following our activities. He should stop mixing politics with education,” Gbotoe added.
He assured students and educational stakeholders across Liberia that WASSCE results will be released on or before September 16, 2024.
We also contacted Stephen H. Toe, Education Officer, Margibi County, who narrated that it is not by law nor is it mandatory that WAEC release results before the reopening of a proceeding academic year and there is nothing wrong with it; instead, it is only forbidden for schools to graduate 12th graders in the absence of WASSCE results.
According to Toe, schools are reopened based on the two hundred (200) instructional days prescribed by the Ministry of Education; as such, it can not be compromised due to WASSCE Results.
He pointed out that the said two hundred instructional days for academic 2024/2025 started on September 2, 2024, for every other class except 10th grade.
We then looked at when the test was given and when school reopened in past years.
| Date test given | Result Release Date | Year school reopens |
| April 3-20, 2018 | June 6, 2018 | September 17, 2018 |
| April 24 to May 14, 2019 | July 28, 2019 | January 4, 2020, due to the COVID-19 |
| 10–30 September 2021 | December 30, 2021 | November 1, 2021 |
| May 31 to June 17, 2022 | Aug. 11, 2022 | September 5, 2022 |
| 8 May to 23 June | August 22, 2023 | Sept. 4, 2023 |
Conclusion: Based on our findings, this is not the first time school has begun without the release of national exam results. Therefore, the claim by Margibi County’s former Development Superintendent, Karpu, is misleading.
Written by: Patrick Mayor, Margibi Grant Fellow
