By M.A. Egge
The President of the Republic of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi inaugurated the annual National Certificate Examination for the form four and class eight secondary and primary schools that kicked off on Saturday 17th June.
The examinations started across the country in for all candidates sitting for the tests at 300 locations.
The President who was flanked by the Education Minister Ahmed Mohamed Diriye (Toorno) and the Head of the National Examinations Council Mr. Daoud Ahmed Farah, officially opened the examinations exercise at Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Yusuf Sheikh Madar High School.
The Head of State personally handed out the test papers to individual students in the class he visited.
In a tentative brief speech that he gave, the president wished for the candidates to excel in their exams and advised them not to be jittery in embarking the tests.
He said, “The exams you are undertaking are a normal occurrence that all before you have undertaken at one time or another”.
He continued, “I wish you all to excel in the exams and it is always the same thing just as the usual ones you undertook”.
He lauded the Ministry of Education for its undertaking and the various chores entailed in the preparation for the national exams.
He also congratulated the nation for the development fetes realized.
The Head of the National Examinations Council Mr. Daoud Ahmed Farah noted that the number of students who are taking the certification exams this year is 25,000 (twenty-five thousand) for the primary schools and 16,000 ( Sixteen thousand) in the secondary.
He further pointed out that 3,243 students were in the Sool Region where disruption of their studies had taken place but the state had since resolved to subject them in grade point averages based on past papers such that they may continue their education.
It is also worth noting that they sitting for the exams this year for students with visual needs.
The Minister of Education and Science Hon. Ahmed Mohamed Diriye (Toorno), thanked the President for the launch of the national exam and wished the students success.
Meanwhile, President Musa Bihi Abdi inspected and toured some of the places where voters’ card issuance exercises were going on in the city.
