Aruna Turay, AYV News, August 19, 2026
The Kids Advocacy Network has threatened to take the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to the ECOWAS Court of Justice over the withholding of examination results of children affected by allegations of examination malpractice.
Speaking exclusively to AYV, Executive Director of Kids Advocacy Network, Edmond Alim B. Fornah, said the organisation would first seek dialogue with the Ministry of Education and WAEC to understand how they intend to resolve the situation before considering legal action.
“We first want to engage with the Ministry of Education and WAEC to see how they plan to resolve this. If they fail to engage, we will consider taking WAEC and the Ministry of Education to the ECOWAS Court,” Fornahsaid.
He argued that withholding the results of children who sat their first public examination could have serious emotional and educational consequences.
“This is a violation of the Child Rights Act. These children are innocent and vulnerable, and it is deeply traumatising for them not to have the results of their first-ever public examination. It will take a toll on them,” he said.
Fornah called on the Minister of Education to publicly clarify the circumstances surrounding the withheld results and outline the government’s plans for affected candidates.
He suggested that, where necessary, authorities could consider organising another examination to ensure that the children are not prevented from progressing with their education.
“The Minister of Education needs to come out and tell us what is really happening, and how they plan on handling this. Perhaps conduct another examination, but these kids need their results to further their education,” he said, adding, “Children should not pay for adults’mistakes.”
The child rights advocate further argued that children should not bear the consequences of decisions or actions involving adults during the examination process.
Using a personal analogy, Fornah said young candidates may lack the maturity to fully understand the consequences of examination-related misconduct.
“I am in university, and if my lecturer asked me to cheat in an exam, I probably would. So imagine a child who doesn’t even understand the consequences of that action,” he said, adding, “They should not be punished for the mistakes of adults.”
The Kids Advocacy Network’s position places renewed attention on the need to balance efforts to protect the integrity of public examinations with the rights, welfare and educational future of affected children.
The organisation says it will engage the relevant authorities first, but has indicated that legal action could follow if satisfactory measures are not taken to resolve the matter.
