…as stakeholders demand stricter measures against exam malpractices
Educationists have applauded the decision by the West African Examinations Council to begin the conduct of two diets of the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination from January 2018.
Academic experts are of the consensus opinion that the development will be productive for the nation’s education sector.
A professor of Agricultural Science at the University of Ilorin, Job Atteh, noted that the idea of having two diets of the private WASSCE would give candidates more chances of passing the examinations because they would study continuously as against the situation that hitherto obtained, where candidates had to wait a whole year before being able to write another diet of the examination.
Atteh said, “Many do it once, and find out they didn’t pass and will still have to wait a year for another chance. But with the examination being written twice or thrice in a year, students won’t feel discouraged to stop studying for the oncoming one ahead of them.
“Giving them the opportunity twice a year is a productive strategy, since candidates will be reading for the same examination twice in a year. This will enable them to get smarter, because if they didn’t pass the first time, definitely they will read more in anticipation of the coming diet, since the time frame between them is not that long. It will definitely have more of a positive effect on students’ knowledge.”
A lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Dr. Folarin Sheriff, also commended WAEC for the initiative, noting that flexibility in examination timetable would reduce candidates’ desperation to pass the examination at all costs and also lessen the corrupt practices of the officials, who take advantage of such desperation.
“It is not a bad idea at all; having GCE twice in a year will also increase the chances of upward mobility for the applicants and youths, thereby reducing the number of idle youths, who are vulnerable to crime or criminality in our society,” he said.
WAEC had announced in December 2016 that the two diets of the private WASSCE would kick off this year, but due to some operational constraints, it was postponed to January 2018.
The council’s Registrar, Dr. Uyi Uwadiae, said the decision was reached, based on growing concerns among stakeholders over what they perceived as discrimination or denial of equal opportunity to private candidates.
“Now, the school candidates, who wish to retake the examination, usually have the opportunity of doing so with the private candidates’ examination. With this development, there has been a wave of agitation, criticisms and appeal across the sub-region for the council to ameliorate the agony of long-waiting experience by private candidates, who desire another attempt at WASSCE,’’
he said.
He, however, added that the conduct of the additional diet might not take off in all the member countries immediately or at the same time, adding that the council had thought it through before coming up with the idea of an additional
diet.
The WAEC registrar assured all concerned stakeholders that the council had the required structure, manpower, logistics and the wherewithal to meet the challenges this new development might
pose.
Meanwhile, perpetrators of examination malpractices are now in for a tough time, if the resolutions at the recently concluded WAEC International Summit are implemented by the five-member countries.
Stakeholders from Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone agreed that stiffer punishment should be meted out to culprits perpetrating the act.
According to the communique, issued at the end of the summit, apprehending perpetrators of examination malpractices is not enough as such cases should be prosecuted diligently in court.
The stakeholders also agreed that the anti-corruption campaign should be intensified; teachers and examination officers should be well paid and motivated, to shield them from any temptation.
According to them, invigilators and supervisors should be given good remuneration and WAEC should also appoint people of high and proven integrity to work in the council as supervisors.
Principals or Head of schools, according to the communique, should be used as supervisors and must be well motivated, while governments of member-countries should, as much as possible, provide infrastructure in order to have conducive environment to write the examinations.
They also enjoined the governments of the member-countries to provide more tertiary institution to absorb majority of the students graduating from high
schools.
The stakeholders further emphasised the need for WAEC to consider two examinations for Senior High Schools to reduce the load on students.
