The night of 20th to 21st August 2025 will remain one of the most painful nights in history for me, for many parents, teachers, and above all the students who sat for the South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education (SSCE) exams in December 2024.
Sadly, the long-awaited results turned out to be a great disappointment even for students we strongly believed would excel nationally.
These results confirm what I said during my talk at the University of Juba on 16th August 2025: “Education is clinically dead in South Sudan.” Having visited the marking center, I doubted the marking process was done ethically, and unfortunately, the outcome has proven my fears right.
It is shocking that instead of addressing the exam leakages by punishing the specific centers involved, innocent students were failed wholesale.
For instance, I would have understood if the Cairo Centre where I personally witnessed the exam leakages was held accountable.
Yet, students were failed even in English and Arabic, despite having accessed the leaked exams through social media.
It is equally unbelievable that Sudanese students, who once ranked among the best in Sudan’s national primary examinations, failed an Arabic exam set in Konyo-Konyo, Juba.
As one of the exam controllers in Cairo Centre, I raised the issue of leakage publicly through the media. Instead of addressing it, I was summoned and later replaced by authorities at the South Sudan Embassy in Cairo.
After carefully reviewing the results of schools in Juba and comparing them to those in Cairo, I have concluded that there was no proper marking.
What seems to have been done is a rushed, rough summation—merely to create the illusion that the Ministry of General Education and Instruction had successfully managed the process. The pressure to release results quickly has caused untold harm to students and their families.
Imagine being failed in an exam that almost everyone had already seen before entering the hall. Imagine being failed at the very last moment—when the next stage of your education is already at your door.
I understand your pain and frustration. After waiting so long, you expected reward, not disappointment.
While you may be angry at different actors, the real responsibility lies with the government of South Sudan, which has failed miserably to protect and invest in the education sector.
But let me remind you: these results do not define your worth or your potential. You still have the power to rise, to learn, and to achieve success in the future even at university level. Keep your head high, stay strong, and remember that setbacks are never the end of the journey.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely for the author Weirial Baluang a, teacher and economist. He’s the Director General of Readers International Schools in Sudan, Egypt and South Sudan. He can be reached through weirialpuok90@yahoo.com
 exams in December 2024. ){kind=link}