The Registrar of the West African Examinations Council, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, has decried death threats allegedly made against WAEC officials by some misguided candidates and their adult collaborators, including the authorities in some schools, where the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination is conducted.
Uwadiae, who spoke to journalist spoke in an exclusive chat with our correspondent, on the sidelines of a press conference to herald preparations for an international summit on examination malpractices, scheduled to hold on November 19 and 20, 2017.
The WAEC registrar alleged that during examinations, some armed candidates usually threatened to deal with officials who tried to prevent them from cheating.
He added that in addition to some candidates threatening WAEC officials with arms during examinations, some others resorted to secretly infusing hard drugs in the drinks and food served those sent to monitor and coordinate the examination so that they could become vulnerable and allow the students to cheat.
“Examination malpractice is a global phenomenon, not only in Nigeria but in the five-member countries, because many people feel they have to cheat at all costs in order to pass and, in the process, they go the extra length. In fact, the lives of our members are being threatened as private candidates now come to write the exams with guns, even the May|June exams. In some schools, they even offer food and drinks that they have injected lethal drugs into, so as to weaken examination officials,” Uwadiae said.
The WAEC registrar also lamented that the cost of conducting the examinations had gone so high because the council in the five member-countries had introduced several measures, adopted various strategies and deployed technologies at great cost in the fight against the ever-festering
menace.
He added that candidates, parents and operators of rogue websites had continued to devise ingenious and sophisticated methods of cheating, leading to an exponential increase in malpractices.
He, therefore, said that it had become imperative for all stakeholders in education in the West African sub-region to engage in continuous public enlightenment campaigns so as to draw attention of stakeholders in education and the general public to the negative effects of examination malpractices on national development.
“I implore all concerned stakeholders, including registrars of JAMB, NECO, NABTEB as well as chief government nominees in councils, representatives of schools principals’ associations in the five- member countries, religious bodies and, especially the media, on the need to continuously sensitise the public about this malaise that has eaten deep into the fabric of our society,” Uwadiae said.
