Michael Lopuke, the former undersecretary of the ministry of general education - courtesy

The former undersecretary of the ministry of general education has apologized to the government institution for his comment on the exam results he made recently.

Last month, Michael Lopuke expressed fears about the future of the education sector after the majority of the 2020 high school-leaving examination candidates questionably passed.

Lopuke, who worked in the education sector for years, blamed the results on examination leakages.

He explained that such malpractices in the administration of the national examinations would have a negative impact on the country’s education sector in the near future if the concerned authorities did not look into the matter as soon as possible.

In its reaction, the national examination council denied any leakages and malpractices in the 2020 Secondary School Education Examinations.

But South Sudanese citizens around the world expressed their support for Lopuke’s comments, saying he had told the truth and the government should investigate the allegations.

Last week, Lopuke says, a committee headed up by the deputy minister, Martin Tako, summoned him over the matter.

In an interview with Eye Radio on Thursday, Lopuke said his comments might have angered the government, and he apologies for that.

“I am apologetic for any statement that might have upset the government, the ministry and the national secretariat in particular for what has been debated,” said Lopuke.

“I hope with the amicable understanding that we have reached, this statement at least will be able to give confidence to the ministry.

“I was only able to state some of the challenges and I am happy that we’re able to understand and wish them the best of luck and congratulate them for enabling the national examinations to take place amid the challenges that we are going through as a country.”

In October, the National Examinations Council released the results for the academic year 2020/2021 with girls performing better than boys.

Female candidates got a passing percentage of 97.4%, compared to the males’ 97.3%.

It said 33,912 students were registered for the 2020 exams, but only 2.6 percent failed.