The Nation Newspaper

Tag: WAEC

  • Masari laments state of education in Katsina

    Masari laments state of education in Katsina

    ….says, 58,000 out of 250,000 passed WAEC, NECO in 3 years

    Governor Aminu Bello Masari has lamented the state of education in Katsina state Monday, warning that a lot needed to be done in order to salvage the situation.

    The Governor decried that, out of 250,000 students presented for WAEC and NECO exams between 2011 and 2013, only 58,000 made five credits, including English and Mathematics.

    Speaking during a Town Hall meeting with Katsina state indigenes resident in Kaduna, the governor lamented that education used to occupy a pride of place amongst Katsina people but the situation has now changed for the worse.

    ‘’There is no position in Nigeria that a Katsina indigene has not occupied. We are the only state that has produced the presidency of Nigeria three times. This is a foundation that was built by our parents but before our own eyes, we have left it to deteriorate,’’ Masari said.

    According to the governor, the situation is not peculiar to Katsina state alone but the whole of Northwest.

    ‘’Every survey or study that has been carried out by development partners or federal ministry of education show that the North West is the most backward in education and that is where poverty is the most severe,’’ he said, adding that ‘’the situation didn’t start now, it is as a result of past neglect.’’

    Governor Masari said that the highest that Katsina state has recorded in WAEC or NECO exams is 11%, that means those that have five credits, including English and Mathematics.

    Masari clarified that the 11% score is not limited to residents of Katsina state alone but all Katsina indigenes throughout the country. ‘’From 2011 to 2013, we have presented 250,000 candidates for WAEC and NECO out of which only 58,000 got five credits that comprise English and Mathematics,’’ he added.

    ‘’When we removed students in private schools in Katsina state and our indigenes that sat for the external exams in other states, the number of students who got five credits, including English and Mathematics in public schools which government is running  is about 340 to 500 students,’’ he added.

    The governor reiterated that 95% of Katsina indigenes live in the state, adding that if that  percentage can only produce less than 5000 students who are eligible go to tertiary institutions, then there is a big problem.

    Governor Masari said that, his administration has set up a committee that visited all the primary and secondary schools in Katsina State and the committee did a head count. He said that, there was a great disparity between what was on ground and the figures in the register.

    ‘’What the committee found in the register is that there are 1.2 million pupils in primary schools but when it conducted a head count, the committee counted only 728,000. In secondary schools, it saw that  378, 000 students were on the register but only 328, 000 were actually on ground,’’ he added.

    Masari recalled that UNICEF and federal ministry of education finished a survey in 2013. ‘’They found out that there are 80% of out of school children in all the states in the North West. Only 20% are attending primary schools. In contrast, southern states up to Kogi state have enrolment rate of 80%, ‘’ he said.

    According to him, the same UNICEF and DFID conducted another survey in the North West where they interviewed and assessed  primary school teachers. ‘’Most of them couldn’t  pass the exams of the primary four pupils that they were teaching,‘’ Masari said.

  • Candidates with awaiting result can write UTME – JAMB

    Candidates with awaiting result can write UTME – JAMB

    Candidates who are awaiting their O’Level results can seat for the unified tertiary matriculation examinations (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has said.

    JAMB spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, made the clarification in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.

    Dr. Benjamin also said the board would not confirm any admission for candidates with awaiting result.

    He said this would enable JAMB grant admission to only qualified candidates who are ready to advance their educational pursuit in tertiary institutions, conserve resources and also provide credible data.

    He advised candidates to upload their O’level results on JAMB’s website before the end of August this year.

    Mr. Fabian said: “Candidates with awaiting results are eligible to seat for our examination. They are eligible to register for our examination and seat for our examination. However, the board will not confirm any admission for any candidate with awaiting result.

    “All candidates who are desirous of tertiary education are to upload their O’level result on our site. Don’t forget, this O’level result is also a major requirement for admission among other requirements.

    “What we expect is that after obtaining your O’level result you go to our website you upload it. At the point of admission it is expected that they would have uploaded their O’level results on our website before the end of August.

    “We expect that by August, any candidate that does not have his or her result uploaded by end of August is not eligible for admission. We have met with WAEC, NECO and other examination bodies and told them this is the direction we are going.”

    He said the organisation discovered that most of the 1.5 million candidates who seat for its UTME annually do not have the necessary requirements for admission.

    “We have a reasonable number that are not actually qualified for this exam and are competing for spaces they are not qualified for.

    “We don’t want to be doing admission for candidates that are not qualified to be admitted. It is a waste of resources, it distort our data. We discovered overtime that most of the time when these candidates are admitted they don’t meet the requirements.

    “We want to be sure (of) who we are admitting into the tertiary institution so that at the end of the day if we say 3000 students are admitted in University A, Polytechnic A and Colleges of education A, our data will truly reflect 3000 candidate in that particular institution,” he said.

    He added that candidates, who are not computer literate, have a choice of applying for a UTME mock examination at a fee of N700, 00 nationwide.

    Benjamin explained that the UTME mock examination was optional and aimed at allowing students have a feel of the Computer Based Test (CBT), especially those ignorant of the CBT process.

     

     

  • School sues WAEC over seizure of students’ results

    Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Tuesday adjourned till April 6 further hearing in the case filed to challenge the seizure of the May/June 2015 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) results of Christ National Model College, Ido, Ibadan.

    The judge adjourned the case in order to allow the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to appear in court.

    Counsel to the plaintiff, Mrs. Elizabeth Shittu, asked the court to order WAEC to release the results of 100 of its students.

    According to Shittu, one of the allegations levelled against the school by WAEC was that the affected students engaged in examination malpractices.

    She said WAEC also alleged that the school carried out substitution of some examination papers like Animal Husbandry and English Language while the school failed to explain how the substitution was done.

    NAN

     

  • Aregbesola’s intervention in education second to none, says WAEC

    Aregbesola’s intervention in education second to none, says WAEC

    THE West African Examinations Council, WAEC on Friday commended the government of Osun for boosting education system through the introduction of innovative technological device.

    The examination body rated Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s interventions in education as “second to none” in Nigeria especially in the provision of massive infrastructure. A statement by the Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor signed by Director, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, quoted the Head of the Nigeria National Office of the council, Mr. Olutise Isaac Adenipekun, as stating these when he led the delegation of the national management of WAEC to the Governor in Osogbo. He applauded him for ameliorating education with innovative technologies.

    Adenipekun said, “The ongoing revolution in the infrastructural re-engineering of the school complexes in the state of Osun has also caught the attention of all stakeholders in the education sector in Nigeria and beyond.

    “The immense contribution of the state government in the development of infrastructural facilities in schools, in particular, the “Mega Schools Project” is remarkable. It is in fact second to none in Nigeria”, he stressed. WAEC said Osun has helped to mitigate common difficulties usually encountered by the students while writing Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations, SSSCE.

    Adenipekun said Osun has contributed significantly towards enhancing Information and Communication Technology, ICT required in education sector which according to him remains the prerequisite to development of quality education in the country. Adenipekun, who recommended the Tablet of Knowledge to other states of the federation said the initiative had contributed towards educational development. He described the innovation as a tool of educational revolution, breakthrough aimed at enhancing and encouraging the process of teaching and learning through the use of innovative technology.

  • 2017 UTME: JAMB, NECO, WAEC, NABTEB harmonise examination time-table

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Tuesday said it has agreed on a harmonised time-table with other examination bodies ahead of 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The decision, the board said, would lead to a hitch free examination.

    The board at a brainstorming meeting with the National Examination Council (NECO), West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Business and Technical Examination (NABTEB) held at JAMB’s headquarters in Abuja unanimously agreed to harmonise the examination timetable because of the candidates’ desire for qualitative tertiary education.

    The Spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement late on Tuesday night in Abuja, said the harmonised examination timetable had put to rest problems arising from overlapping of examination dates which would have disenfranchised a sizeable number of candidates from writing the examination.

    “At the end of the brainstorming session, the bodies resolved that WAEC would speak to all its authorities that from 2018, between March and April, for a window of two weeks be created where all other examinations that have nothing to do with Nigeria will be held so as to allow a window for JAMB to conduct its examination,” the statement said.

    According to the statement, the examination bodies agreed that for the purpose of the 2017 UTME, JAMB would shift its examinations to allow students face WAEC, NECO and NABTEB.

    “However, a 10-day window for JAMB’S UTME has been created by all examination bodies for JAMB to conduct its examination. In view of this, JAMB will soon announce the commencement of sale of the 2017/2018 admission forms for UTME and Direct Entry (DE).

    “JAMB emphasises the fact that whoever is presently collecting any money in the name of JAMB form should be reported to the police or any other security agency as fraudster,” the statement added.

     

  • Kano to spend N398.9m on 27,268 WAEC, NECO candidates

    Kano State government has approved N398, 919,800 for 27,268 candidates for West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and SIS examinations.

    The beneficiaries must pass the state qualifying exam.

    Commissioner of Information, Youth and Culture, Mallam Muhammad Garba; made  this known at a briefing on the outcome of the 72rd and first state executive council (SEC) meeting held at Kano Government House earlier this month.

    Garba added that only students with five credits, including English and Mathematics, would benefit from the gesture, adding that the state’s 44 local governments have been directed to shoulder responsibility of such qualified candidates in their domains.

    He said this decision was taken based on the three options presented to the council by the ministry of education.

    Garba said of the amount, N774, 550, 000 million was reserved for drilling 789 hand pump boreholes and rehabilitation of 163 across the state.

    He added that the government decided to do this to cushion the water scarcity facing some communities, reiterating that the state water treatment plants were being upgraded to cover all the nooks and crannies of the state.

     

  • Many blind candidates collude to cheat at examinations, says WAEC

    Many blind candidates collude to cheat at examinations, says WAEC

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), says blind candidates also cheat during examinations.

    They cheat by colluding.

    The Head of Test Administration of WAEC in Nigeria, Mrs Frances Iweha-Onukwu, made the revelation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Iweha-Onukwu said the reason could be that the candidates were usually not well equipped individually for the examinations.

    She added that this had been responsible for what she described as ‘not too wonderful performance’ among the blinds.

    “We have discovered that there is usually high incidence of collusion among blind candidates during examinations.

    “That is why their performance has not really been anything wonderful.

    “Our society is such that there have not been adequate and conscious efforts to take care of the challenged.

    “There have not been enough trained personnel to guide blind candidates before being exposed to major external examination’’, she said.

    She lamented a situation where just one teacher who studied Special Education in higher institution is employed to cater for the needs of physically challenged persons of various dimensions. She said the situation must be reviewed.

    “I cannot explain how one teacher, who studied special education can be given the singular task of meeting the academic needs of the deaf, dumb, the blind and all others.

    “Meanwhile, there are candidates who need personalised attention on one-on-one basis.

    “If we intend to give the best and all-inclusive education, Federal Government must employ more trained teachers in special education to take care of the different defects among the physically challenged students.

    “There must also be consciousness in policy formulation that will take care of these persons.

    “This is because there is ability in disability. These persons can do better if adequate care is given’’, Iweha-Onukwu added. (NAN)

  • GCE 2016 : WAEC withholds 13,488 results

    GCE 2016 : WAEC withholds 13,488 results

    The results of 13,488 private candidates, out of the 172,699 who sat for the 2016 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), have been withheld.

    Mr Olu Adenipekun, Head of National Office (HNO) of the WAEC, announced this while releasing results of the Nov/Dec diet of the examination on Friday in Lagos.

    Adenipekun said the results were withheld in connection with various cases of examination malpractice.

    According to him, the results withheld represent 7.81 percent of the total number of candidates who sat for the examination.

    He said that the cases of malpractices were being investigated and that reports of the investigations would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council in due course, for consideration.

    The HNO added that the committee’s decision would be communicated to the affected candidates thereafter.

    Giving a further breakdown of the results, Adenipekun said that 176,621 candidates registered for the examination, out of which 172,699 sat for the tests.

    He said that of the figure, 88,290 were males, while 84,409 were females, representing 51.12 per cent and 48.88 per cent respectively.

    Adenipekun said that 1,210 other candidates had some of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to them in the course of writing the examination.

    “Such errors are being corrected by the council to enable the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released subsequently,’’ he said.

    According to him, out of the 172,699 that sat for the examination, 72,229 candidates, representing 41.82 per cent obtained credits and above in six subjects.

    A total of 95,294 representing 55.18 per cent obtained credits and above in five subjects, while 116,133 candidates, representing 67.25 per cent, obtained credits and above in four subjects.

    Similarly, 134,152 candidates, representing 77.67 per cent, obtained credits and above in three subjects, while 149,651 candidates, representing 86.65 per cent, also scored credits and above in two subjects.

    Adenipekun explained that 66,497 candidates, representing 38.50 per cent, obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

    Giving a comparative analysis of the performance of the candidates who sat for the 2016 Nov/Dec of the examination, the HNO said there was an improvement when compared to candidates’ performance in the same examination in the 2014 and 2015 diets.

    “In the percentage of candidates that obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English and Mathematics in this year’s examination, there is an improvement in the performance this year when compared to the 29.37 percent in 2014 and 20.59 per cent in 2015 respectively,’’ he said.

    Adenipekun attributed the improved performance to the impact of democracy in the country.

    He said that many state governments were now showing commitment towards improving education in their respective states.

    “More infrastructure is being put in place, more schools also being built, while existing ones are being improved upon,’’ the HNO said.

    On its part, he said that WAEC maintained the standard of the examinations at all times.

    He assured that the council would continue to organise seminars for stakeholders to discuss the way forward for the Nigerian child.

    “We will always ensure the examinations are taken to the places of the habitat of the candidates, no matter the challenges.

    “This is to ensure that no one is denied the right to education,’’ he said.

    The NHO said that 19 blind candidates registered and sat for the examination.

    Adenipekun said that candidates who sat for the examination would be able to check the details of their performance on the council’s website in the next 24 hours.

  • WAEC releases Nov/Dec WASSCE results

    WAEC releases Nov/Dec WASSCE results

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Friday released the results of the November/December 2016 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates – with 38.50 per cent making credits in five subjects including English and Mathematics.

    Announcing the release of the results at the WAEC national headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, the Head of National Office (HNO), Mr. Olu Adenipekun, said the percentage represents 66,497 of 172,699 candidates who sat for the examination held between October 26 and November 14, 2016.

    Adenipekun said only 29.37 per cent reached the bench in 2014 and 20.50 per cent in 2015.

    While 1,210 candidates representing 0.69 per cent will not be able to access all their results immediately because of errors being corrected, Adenipekun said 13,488 (7.81 per cent) candidates’ results have been withheld and are being investigated for involvement in examination malpractice.

    “The cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate committee of the Council in due course for consideration. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates thereafter,” he said.

    Giving the statistics of candidates for the examination, the HNO said 51.12 per cent (88,290) were males, while 48.88 per cent (84,409) were females. Of the lot, 19 were visually challenged.

    He thanked various stakeholders for their contributions to making the examination a success.

    Regarding the backlog of payment by state governments for the May/June WASSCE, Adenipekun said no results were being withheld because of lack of payment.

    He added that governments still owing are gradually offsetting their debts.

    “I am not aware of any state in Nigeria still owing WAEC examination fees. We have some that have not completely paid. But they have given us a payment plan. They pay something every month,” he said.

     

     

  • 71 inmates get WAEC certificates

    There was wild jubilation at the Kuje Medium Prison as no fewer than 71 inmates of the prison inmates were presented with their November/December West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) certificates.

    Meanwhile, the prison population now stands at 781 with awaiting trial inmates hitting a total number of 570 while the number of convicted inmates stands at 211.

    Speaker after speaker, some of the inmates candidates that sat for the examination at the Kuje Prison Centre explained how their misfortune has turned into fortune, admitting that they would not have had the opportunity with the distractions outside the prison.

    According to the statistics, out of a total number of 74 candidates registered in the November/December 2015 WAEC Examination, 71 candidates sat for the examination while three candidates were discharged before the commencement of the exam.

    “Out of the 71 candidates that sat for the examination, 65 results were released while six results were held by the exam board. Out of the 65 released result, the Kuje Prison center recorded a total number of 38 distinctions, 166 Credits, 211 passes and 111 failures,” the Education Desk Officer, Adikwu A Owoicho, noted.

    Enumerating the challenges facing the inmates from exploiting education opportunities, the authority said: “We appreciate the efforts of all the churches, NGOs like NUGA BEST, and individuals that made the programme a reality since its inception from 2010 through their countless support and prayers.

    “We still want to point out the following challenges affecting the overall performance of the candidates.

    Lack of teachers in the various subject areas like mathematics, English, Chemistry, CRK/IRS, Geography, History, Accounting, Government etc. Txt books in the above mentioned subjects, teaching materials while board, markers, birds, pencils, A4 papers etc, plastic chairs and tables,” he noted.