Comboni headteacher narrates how tech unlocked exam success

That Senior Four candidates at St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School posted impressive results surpassing last year’s achievement was enough aura of excitement.

According to the school headteacher Emmanuel Ladu Zechariah, it did not come as a surprise that the students excelled in the South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education examination.

Zechariah said the journey to overcome the learning complexities imposed by COVID-19 containment measures was winding spot on for success. It was the first time they improvised learning methods using videos and WhatsApp groups which paid off. 

 “We created the WhatsApp group for the students so that they follow the teachers with things like Mathematics, Chemistry. We recorded some videos for them to follow from there. 

“It gave teachers also morale and the children were responsive. When I heard about the results, I felt they did what was taught to them at that time,” Ladu explained.

He went on to recall: “We are indeed very happy for the achievement of the students but it is not a surprise because they laboured during the period of COVID when schools were closed. here in Comboni, we felt like we should not leave the students like that because we felt one day one time the government would open schools.” 

Ladu said they use an inverted pyramid system where a student who failed more than three subjects was discontinued from the school.

“We have four classes of senior one, four classes of senior two, three classes of senior three, and two classes of senior four. The more they go up, the more the number keeps on reducing,’’ he disclosed. 

 “We assess the students thoroughly. The student who fails more than three subjects is always discontinued from the school,” he explained.

He said the system allows teachers to mentor the learners and prepare them adequately. 

“With this, the more you go up, the more it becomes easy for the teachers to access what is there in the mind of the students and then you impart the knowledge properly.”

Setting examples

Ladu urged parents to support their children and ensure that they attend classes regularly in schools. He said the current students should learn from the success of their colleagues who have made it to the top ten in national exams.

The headteacher urged the government to provide financial support to the teachers as well as to attract those who have left the profession due to low pay.

Ladu appealed to the government to provide scholarships for the top 10 students and called for more emphasis on sciences and laboratories for the students to conduct their practicals.

Several students of St. Daniel Comboni expressed happiness over the good performance as they promised to emulate the remarkable achievements of their colleagues.

National leaders

St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School was declared as the top secondary school with an 89.6 percent performance index in the SSCSE results released by the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng Acuil last Friday.

The second school was St. Lawrence Secondary School with an 88.6 percent performance index while Loreto Girls Secondary School came in the third position with an 88.3 percent performance index. 

Joseph Obwany Okic Nyikang of Joshua Okwaci Secondary School was named the best student countrywide with 95.1 percent. Sebit Justin Sunday Lavirick of St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School was named the second leading student with a 94.6 percent 

The top girl in the country was Josephine Poni Gwido Swaka, a student of St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School with 93.9 percent and the sixth student.

The 2020 exam has shown great improvement in St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School with six of them in the top ten positions. However, in 2019, the top students ranking, St. Daniel Comboni Secondary School’s best student sits at 10th position.