Yak Jones Foundation helps 80 pupils use past exam papers newly released online to prep for the National Primary School Examination

The Yak Jones Foundation helped class sixers at the Dr. S.M. Broderick Municipal Primary School in Brookfields, Freetown to use online tools to revise for the National Primary School Examination (NPSE). The NPSE is the external test students must pass to transition to junior secondary school.

Eighty pupils were supported by coaches from the Yak Jones Foundation over a period of one week. They revised past exam question papers for both English Language and Verbal Aptitude with them recently made available by the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and other partners including UNICEF via the Sierra Leone Learning Passport website. 

According to Myra Bell, Yak Jones coordinator, the revision is part of their year-long activities to improve literacy and learning outcomes.

“Yak Jones Foundation is an organization that helps children become avid readers and to develop good comprehension skills,” said Bell. 

“This revision has helped me understand some of the things I was not understanding while they were teaching us in school,” said Aruna Bangura, a class six pupil who participated in the study session. 

Last year’s pass rate for the NPSE exams was over 90 percent. Out of 161, 691 kids who took the exam, 124, 541 candidates passed. About 161, 524 candidates are expected to attempt this year’s exam later this month. 

The founder of the Yak Jones Foundation, Dr. Yakama Manty Jones encouraged the teachers and pupils to fully leverage the offerings on the Sierra Leone Learning Passport. She also asked them to share the information as widely as possible especially with colleagues, parents, and guardians to maximize utilization and learning. She also mentioned the importance of other edtech tools being rolled out in Sierra Leone.

The Yak Jones Foundation is reviving the reading culture in Sierra Leone. They donated books and learning materials to needy schools and communities.  In March this year, the organization made donations to three early childhood development centers in Freetown, Moyamba, and Kambia.