The Cameroon General Certificate of Education GCE Board has told candidates to pull down suicide as a way out after a failure at an official exam following three cases of suicide recorded after the publication of GCE exam results.
In a post Monday August 23, the Board said suicide is and has never been an option and called on the candidates to think twice before taking such a decision.
“Before you think of suicide, you have the power to say ‘This is not why my story will end.’ When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long. Suicide doesn’t end the chances for life getting worse; it eliminates the possibility of it ever getting better.” The post partly reads.
It further calls on all candidates who went in for this year’s GCE ordinary and advanced level exams to contact their chief of centre for their slips and kindly visit their writing centres for better assistance.
This caution by the Board however came under huge criticism by internet users who described it as being insensitive.
It comes after three students in Yaounde, Douala and Bamenda are reported to have taken away their lives after they failed to make it in the 2020/2021 session of the GCE examination.
The Board equally reported that this year’s GCE results witnessed a slide drop in performances. According to the statistics released, a 61, 94 percent pass was recorded in the GCE Advanced Level, a drop from the 64, 4 percent recorded last year.
On the other hand, a 59, 08 percent score was recorded at the GCE Ordinary Level, a drop from the 64, 4 percent recorded last year. However, there was an increased participation at this year’s session with an additional 16,000 candidates taking the exams, according to the Board Chair of the GCE Board, Prof Ivo Leke Tambo.
Ariane Foguem
