By Ben T.C Brooks
River Gee County – Tension and disappointment gripped over Tweh Jaiklay High school, after an overwhelming majority of its senior students were barred from graduation due to poor performance in the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination-WASSCE.
Of the 118 students who sat the exam, only 15 candidates, nine females and six males, met the Ministry of Education’s graduation requirements. The rest, a staggering 103 students, were denied graduation clearance.
Tweh Jaiklay High School, the only government-run senior high institution in Fish Town, River Gee had hoped for a stronger showing. Instead, the school’s 7th Senior High school convocation ceremony unfolded under a cloud of disappointment.
Principal Alex Zenegbain confirmed that the school acted strictly on directives from the Ministry of Education and the West African Examinations Council – WAEC.
“Last academic year, we presented 118 students for WASSCE, but unfortunately only 15 passed the core subjects. These are the students we have graduated today,”
Principal Zenegbain
He urged the unsuccessful students to prepare for the resit exams, emphasizing that their academic journey could still continue.
“We are encouraging those who did not make it to get ready to resit the test. Their journey doesn’t end here,” he said.
The poorly attended graduation ceremony was marked by anger and dissatisfaction from parents, many of whom blamed both the school administration and students for the alarming failure rate.
One frustrated parent, Mrs..Sarah Quayee, criticized the school’s leadership. “The principal, Alex, and his teachers failed just as the students failed the WASSCE. They must take teaching more seriously. Our children cannot continue suffering like this.”
She also pointed to what he described as a rising culture of “unseriousness” among students, calling for strict national measures to curb widespread WASSCE failures.
The dismal results at the Tweh Jaiklay High school this year, were not an isolated incident as reports from the Gbeapo Multilateral and Webbo High schools in Kanweaken and Webbo Konronken, River Gee’s major commercial towns indicated that all 115 candidates from both schools who sat the WASSCE, also failed to meet graduation benchmarks.
The pattern of failure has sparked widespread concern in the county, with many stakeholders questioning the quality of classroom instruction, adequacy of learning materials, student readiness and commitment and the effectiveness of school oversight by school authorities in the county.
Several residents who also spoke with our report called for urgent and comprehensive reforms within the education sector.
The many residents are also pushing for a stronger interventions of improved teacher training, enhanced instructional supervision, the provision of adequate textbooks and learning materials, stronger student support programs, including tutorials and strict enforcement of academic standards nationwide.
River Gee County, located in Southeast Liberia, with a population of over 124,000 according to the 2022 National Population and Housing Census, currently hosts six high schools across six education districts.
Despite the relatively small school population, performance in major national exams continues to lag.
However, local officials from the Ministry of Education have yet to comment on the mass WASSCE failure, leaving many parents anxious and uncertain about the way forward.
As River Gee grapples with the fallout from the results, the future of hundreds of its students hangs in the balance.
The pressure is now intensifying on the Ministry of Education to investigate the crisis and implement corrective measures to prevent a repeat of such widespread failure.
