By Baraka John
The Western Equatoria State Ministry of General Education has officially released the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results, recording a strong overall performance and a remarkable showing by girls who dominated the top rankings across the state.
According to the ministry, 4,132 candidates passed out of 4,488 who sat for the exams, representing a 92% pass rate, an improvement from 90.1% recorded in 2024.
The best candidate in the state is Afia Simon Bashir Alex of Ema Memorial Primary School in Mundri West County, who scored 442 marks.
She is closely followed by Kumbuyeki Goodwill Elias William from Ensento Primary School in Yambio County, who scored 441 marks.
According to the ministry, girls make up the majority of the top ten candidates, highlighting the growing role of female students in academic excellence across the state.
Speaking after the release of the results, the state Minister of General Education Gibson Bullen Wande urged school administrations to avoid sending pupils home over unpaid school fees, stressing that such practices disrupt learning and negatively affect academic performance.
As a Ministry of Education, we are urging, the school administration, the directors of all schools to ensure that for them to produce a better result, so the issue of sending learners home should be minimized because it also affects them”. Wande urged. “By the time you send a learner home, the learner stays for one, two weeks, by the time he or she comes back, then he or she will not catch up with the lesson that was taught during his or her absence”.
Wande said the Ministry of Education is fully aware of the economic challenges facing teachers, but emphasized that this should not be used as a reason to send learners home.
“We know the condition, the economic condition of the country. Likewise, the economic condition of the country is not only affecting the parents, but it’s also affecting everybody. So the issue that the school administration is saying is that they want to be paying salaries on time. Yes, we are aware of that as well, but the issue of concentrating on a learner’s ability should be put first”.
There are ten counties in Western Equatoria State. In Yambio County, 1,515 candidates sat; 1,224 passed (80.7%), followed by Nzara County: 288 candidates sat; 287 passed (99.6%), and in Ezo County: 253 candidates sat; 251 passed (99.2%). Meanwhile, in Tombura County, a conflict-affected area, 214 candidates sat; 199 passed (93%).
Others include Najero County: 40 candidates sat; 28 passed (68.3%), Ibba County saw 144 candidates sat; 144 passed (100%). In Maridi County, 788 candidates sat and 785 passed (99.5%).
In Mundri West County, 648 candidates sat; 644 passed (99.3%), and in Mundri East County, 396 candidates sat; 367 passed (92.6%). In Mvolo County, 231 candidates sat; 228 passed (98.7%).