FREETOWN, 27th October 2026 – The celebration that greeted the release of the 2026 WASSCE results on Tuesday has turned to heartbreak for 368 candidates who remain stranded without results, after their schools failed to pay examination fees to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) confirmed that the 368 candidates from five private schools were excluded from the batch of results WAEC officially released to the Ministry on Friday 23rd October.
The reason is not malpractice, not absenteeism, not missing scripts. It is debt.
A total of NLe 114,093 (One Hundred and Fourteen Thousand and Ninety-Three New Leones) is owed by the five schools, with some withholding candidates’ fees for months.
The Debt Breakdown
According to documents presented by Minister Conrad Sackey, the defaulting schools are:
1. Great High School of Science and Business – NLe 43,194.00
2. Royal International School – NLe 23,788.00
3. Faith Walk Academy Senior Secondary School – NLe 20,032.00
4. Rev. Christian International High School – NLe 13,771.00
5. Globe International – NLe 13,308.00
Together, they account for 368 candidates – all private candidates whose parents paid WASSCE fees directly to the schools, expecting the schools to remit same to WAEC.
“Candidates Did Nothing Wrong”
Minister Sackey was emphatic: “The candidates did nothing wrong. The debt belongs to the schools.”
He explained that under the Free Quality School Education (FQSE) programme, government pays WASSCE fees for all candidates in public and government-assisted schools. Private schools are not covered – they must collect and pay on their own.
But several private school proprietors in Freetown have made it a habit to collect fees from pupils and use the money for other purposes, only to be chased by WAEC at the point of results release.
A senior WAEC official said: “We cannot release results for candidates whose fees have not been paid for. It’s a financial breach, not an academic one. Once the schools pay, we will release.”
MBSSE Warns Private Schools
The Ministry has now urged all five proprietors to settle the arrears immediately, warning that failure to do so could attract sanctions, including de-recognition as WAEC examination centres and publication as defaulting schools.
“Every candidate deserves an examination process that is fully accounted for,” the Ministry stated.
Until the NLe114,093 is paid, 368 young Sierra Leoneans – who did their part by studying, registering and sitting the exams – will continue to wait, stranded by the very schools that were supposed to protect their future.
