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Tag: WAEC

  • NUT, ASUU, WAEC, others: why education standard is poor

    NUT, ASUU, WAEC, others: why education standard is poor

    Stakeholders are not happy with the state of education, 56 years after the country’s Independence. They blame the government for what they call the neglect of ‘this critical sector’. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, OLUWATOYIN ADELEYE and MOJISOLA CLEMENT-OMOBOWALE report:

    After 56 years of Independence, how has education fared in Nigeria? Not well, say stakeholders in their assessment of the sector. Reason: poor funding, dearth of infrastructure and policy that can deepen the sectors growth. The government, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) argued, should be blamed for the sector’s poor performance.

    ‘Successive governments, it said, failed to put education on the front burner.

    A statement by WAEC’s Head, Public Affairs, Demianus Ojijeogu said: “In recent years, the total neglect of education by successive governments both at the federal and state levels, became so obvious that it was staring us in the face. Several warnings from those that should know where we are headed in terms of education went unheeded.

    “The infrastructure was not there. And where it was, it was in a decayed state. One of the indices for national development is education. But we went on, as a nation, for a very long time pretending that nothing was wrong. That led to the emergence of private schools. Later, our children started looking towards Ghana, South Africa and even Togo and Benin Republic for quality education. And we had one strike too many.”

    It continued:  “At a time, due to the poor performance of candidates in our examinations, there was pressure on the council to lower its standards. But having been conducting examinations for more than 60 years now, we knew the solution does not lie in awarding high grades to undeserving candidates. And that was why we wrote to all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, urging them that we can partner with them to train their teachers and also avail them with our numerous resources and materials that will help them raise students with intellectual capability.

    “Education is more than writing examinations. The conducive environment required for teaching and learning to take place should be created.  Adequate remuneration for teachers should be paramount. Laboratories and libraries should be equipped. Parents should be vitally involved in the education of their children. Paying their school fees won’t be enough. The society should also reward students that did well in WASSCE by instituting awards like they do for Project Fame and others.”

    To the Academic Staff Unions of Universities (ASUU), there is no difference in the present government’s approach to public universities with those of past administrations.

    It said the trend could not be allowed to continue because the common man’s future lies in public education.

    ASUU National President Prof Abiodun Ogunyemi recalled that at independence in 1960, the nationalists conceptualised education as a springboard for development. He said up to 40 per cent of the budget was earmarked for education, thereby paving the way for the establishment of first generation universities such as, the University of Lagos; University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University); and University of Nigeria Nssuka (UNN).

    The trend, Ogunyemi noted, continued in the Second Republic with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, among others, championing quality education.

    Things, he said, began to change from former head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s era. Some Nigerians, Ogunyemi said, then  saw education as their private property and began  a gradual commercialisation of the sector. Education nosedived from then on through the Buhari-Idiagbon regime, and up to former Gen Ibrahim Babangida’s eight-year rule.

    Ogunyemi said: “Today, you see the proliferation of private schools everywhere. They first began with primary and secondary schools and they are now some of the biggest investors in private universities.

    “By 1985, these people started rolling back government support for public education. By the time Obasanjo took over as civilian president in 1999, some politicians now saw public schools as their private properties.

    “ASUU has fiercely resisted this to date, but for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that will not let go because they are the forces of neo-liberalism.

    “ASUU believes it is public education that will give Nigerians a sense of patriotism. So, if government is saying it has no business in public education, what they are saying is that individuals should fund themselves to acquire education anywhere.

    “So, if my parent has to steal to send me abroad, that means once I graduate, my brain will be for the highest bidder rather than saying I want to come back and use the same brain to develop my fatherland.”

    The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) makes a case for standard in the sector. Education, it said,  began a downward slope when the military came into power in 1966.

    “Our leaders have gotten education wrong right from the military coup of 1966 when attention was redirected from education to other areas,” NAPPS National Vice President Chief Yomi Otubela said, adding: “Government at all levels should be able to set a standard for education for private individuals to follow. Failure to do this has brought in mushroom schools, unqualified teachers, and proprietors who have come into education for material gain and not passion. There is no will-power by the government to clampdown on these low standard schools, because even many public schools are mushroom schools.”

    The group continued: “Teachers’ motivation is so low and teaching schools are not standardised. The Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) is not motivating teachers, so this has led to half-baked teachers and graduates who cannot defend their certificates.”

    NAPPS blamed it all on erosion of values, saying: “The crave for materialism and show of wealth by those in authority have led to a decay in our values in Africa. Parents no longer prioritise their children’s education so they keep them at home, use them to make money, or they just send them to mushroom schools where they would not get quality education.”

    To enable it assist the sector, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities in Nigeria (CVCRTU) is appealing for single digit or interest-free loans. It also appealed for access to  research funds and soft loans or scholarship for students.

    Speaking with The Nation the association’s Chairman, Prof Debo Adeyemo said private universities,  were major stakeholders that deserve more financial attention from the government.

    Adeyemo said no private university could claim to be making profit, as a lot of investment went into acquiring infrastructure and maintaining students.

    He said: “We need access to funding as this will allow us have the ambience of an ecosystem to commensurates with that kind of atmosphere conducive for learning and research in universities.

    “There are secondary schools that charge three times what we charge in private universities; yet nobody bates an eyelid. It is government that creates this impression that private school charges are high.

    “In my school (Redeemer University) for instance, each hostel room is shared by two students which is quite expensive to run. But government will charge N90 per person in public school making some parents to now view what we charge as quite high.

    “Now tell me, what can N90 achieve with respect to students accommodation? That is why we see students overcrowding unkempt hostels across many public institutions nationwide.

    “We also want government to open research funding opportunity for us. It is ridiculous when people say because we are private universities, we cannot enjoy government funding. Go to America, universities there, regardless of whether public or private, have unfettered access to research funding. Any research from our engagement will be profitable to both the nation and the world.

    “In all, I think government should simply remove encumbrances to  the growth of private universities. We believe in quality and we should allow quality in our ivory towers if we must compete globally.”

    The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) berated the government for what it called the poor  funding of polytechnics.

    Its President, Yussuf Dutse Usman, decried the absence of governing councils in federal polytechnics for about 18 months, saying the development has slowed down policy implementation.

    “Generally for us, the performance of government has not been in anyway impressive as there is no significant improvement in funding,” Usman said.

    “Government has not yet fulfilled the agreement it signed with us in 2006 for the overall welfare of polytechnics.  Also many of our colleagues at the state level are being owed salary arrears and this is affecting their performance. We at federal institutions are facing similar challenges as our salaries are not adequate because of what government calls a shortfall,” he added.

    “For about a year and a half now, governing council of federal institutions nationwide have not been in place. This is our greatest headache as most decisions, which could have been taken for the smooth running of administration are being delayed. We are using this opportunity to appeal to the government to reconstitute the governing councils as quickly as possible,” he said.

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), urged the government to invite the stakeholders for talks on  changing the education curriculum to meet current economic demands.

    “This (economic) recession is not only affecting our members, but all Nigerians,” said NUT National President Michael Alogba Olukoya.

    He added: “We need to sit down (with government), discuss economic diversification and also change our curriculum to meet the enormity of the economic demands in our country.”

  • NUT, ASUU, WAEC, others: why education standard is poor

    NUT, ASUU, WAEC, others: why education standard is poor

    Stakeholders are not happy with the state of education, 56 years after the country’s Independence. They blame the government for what they call the neglect of ‘this critical sector’. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, OLUWATOYIN ADELEYE and MOJISOLA CL

    After 56 years of Independence, how has education fared in Nigeria? Not well, say stakeholders in their assessment of the sector. Reason: poor funding, dearth of infrastructure and policy that can deepen the sectors growth. The government, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) argued, should be blamed for the sector’s poor performance.

    ‘Successive governments, it said, failed to put education on the front burner.

    A statement by WAEC’s Head, Public Affairs, Demianus Ojijeogu said: “In recent years, the total neglect of education by successive governments both at the federal and state levels, became so obvious that it was staring us in the face. Several warnings from those that should know where we are headed in terms of education went unheeded.

    “The infrastructure was not there. And where it was, it was in a decayed state. One of the indices for national development is education. But we went on, as a nation, for a very long time pretending that nothing was wrong. That led to the emergence of private schools. Later, our children started looking towards Ghana, South Africa and even Togo and Benin Republic for quality education. And we had one strike too many.”

    It continued:  “At a time, due to the poor performance of candidates in our examinations, there was pressure on the council to lower its standards. But having been conducting examinations for more than 60 years now, we knew the solution does not lie in awarding high grades to undeserving candidates. And that was why we wrote to all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, urging them that we can partner with them to train their teachers and also avail them with our numerous resources and materials that will help them raise students with intellectual capability.

    “Education is more than writing examinations. The conducive environment required for teaching and learning to take place should be created.  Adequate remuneration for teachers should be paramount. Laboratories and libraries should be equipped. Parents should be vitally involved in the education of their children. Paying their school fees won’t be enough. The society should also reward students that did well in WASSCE by instituting awards like they do for Project Fame and others.”

    To the Academic Staff Unions of Universities (ASUU), there is no difference in the present government’s approach to public universities with those of past administrations.

    It said the trend could not be allowed to continue because the common man’s future lies in public education.

    ASUU National President Prof Abiodun Ogunyemi recalled that at independence in 1960, the nationalists conceptualised education as a springboard for development. He said up to 40 per cent of the budget was earmarked for education, thereby paving the way for the establishment of first generation universities such as, the University of Lagos; University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University); and University of Nigeria Nssuka (UNN).

    The trend, Ogunyemi noted, continued in the Second Republic with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, among others, championing quality education.

    Things, he said, began to change from former head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s era. Some Nigerians, Ogunyemi said, then  saw education as their private property and began  a gradual commercialisation of the sector. Education nosedived from then on through the Buhari-Idiagbon regime, and up to former Gen Ibrahim Babangida’s eight-year rule.

    Ogunyemi said: “Today, you see the proliferation of private schools everywhere. They first began with primary and secondary schools and they are now some of the biggest investors in private universities.

    “By 1985, these people started rolling back government support for public education. By the time Obasanjo took over as civilian president in 1999, some politicians now saw public schools as their private properties.

    “ASUU has fiercely resisted this to date, but for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that will not let go because they are the forces of neo-liberalism.

    “ASUU believes it is public education that will give Nigerians a sense of patriotism. So, if government is saying it has no business in public education, what they are saying is that individuals should fund themselves to acquire education anywhere.

    “So, if my parent has to steal to send me abroad, that means once I graduate, my brain will be for the highest bidder rather than saying I want to come back and use the same brain to develop my fatherland.”

    The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) makes a case for standard in the sector. Education, it said,  began a downward slope when the military came into power in 1966.

    “Our leaders have gotten education wrong right from the military coup of 1966 when attention was redirected from education to other areas,” NAPPS National Vice President Chief Yomi Otubela said, adding: “Government at all levels should be able to set a standard for education for private individuals to follow. Failure to do this has brought in mushroom schools, unqualified teachers, and proprietors who have come into education for material gain and not passion. There is no will-power by the government to clampdown on these low standard schools, because even many public schools are mushroom schools.”

    The group continued: “Teachers’ motivation is so low and teaching schools are not standardised. The Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) is not motivating teachers, so this has led to half-baked teachers and graduates who cannot defend their certificates.”

    NAPPS blamed it all on erosion of values, saying: “The crave for materialism and show of wealth by those in authority have led to a decay in our values in Africa. Parents no longer prioritise their children’s education so they keep them at home, use them to make money, or they just send them to mushroom schools where they would not get quality education.”

    To enable it assist the sector, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Registrars of Private Universities in Nigeria (CVCRTU) is appealing for single digit or interest-free loans. It also appealed for access to  research funds and soft loans or scholarship for students.

    Speaking with The Nation the association’s Chairman, Prof Debo Adeyemo said private universities,  were major stakeholders that deserve more financial attention from the government.

    Adeyemo said no private university could claim to be making profit, as a lot of investment went into acquiring infrastructure and maintaining students.

    He said: “We need access to funding as this will allow us have the ambience of an ecosystem to commensurates with that kind of atmosphere conducive for learning and research in universities.

    “There are secondary schools that charge three times what we charge in private universities; yet nobody bates an eyelid. It is government that creates this impression that private school charges are high.

    “In my school (Redeemer University) for instance, each hostel room is shared by two students which is quite expensive to run. But government will charge N90 per person in public school making some parents to now view what we charge as quite high.

    “Now tell me, what can N90 achieve with respect to students accommodation? That is why we see students overcrowding unkempt hostels across many public institutions nationwide.

    “We also want government to open research funding opportunity for us. It is ridiculous when people say because we are private universities, we cannot enjoy government funding. Go to America, universities there, regardless of whether public or private, have unfettered access to research funding. Any research from our engagement will be profitable to both the nation and the world.

    “In all, I think government should simply remove encumbrances to  the growth of private universities. We believe in quality and we should allow quality in our ivory towers if we must compete globally.”

    The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) berated the government for what it called the poor  funding of polytechnics.

    Its President, Yussuf Dutse Usman, decried the absence of governing councils in federal polytechnics for about 18 months, saying the development has slowed down policy implementation.

    “Generally for us, the performance of government has not been in anyway impressive as there is no significant improvement in funding,” Usman said.

    “Government has not yet fulfilled the agreement it signed with us in 2006 for the overall welfare of polytechnics.  Also many of our colleagues at the state level are being owed salary arrears and this is affecting their performance. We at federal institutions are facing similar challenges as our salaries are not adequate because of what government calls a shortfall,” he added.

    “For about a year and a half now, governing council of federal institutions nationwide have not been in place. This is our greatest headache as most decisions, which could have been taken for the smooth running of administration are being delayed. We are using this opportunity to appeal to the government to reconstitute the governing councils as quickly as possible,” he said.

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), urged the government to invite the stakeholders for talks on  changing the education curriculum to meet current economic demands.

    “This (economic) recession is not only affecting our members, but all Nigerians,” said NUT National President Michael Alogba Olukoya.

    He added: “We need to sit down (with government), discuss economic diversification and also change our curriculum to meet the enormity of the economic demands in our country.”

    EMENT-OMOBOWALE report:

  • WAEC to mark scripts electronically

    WAEC to mark scripts electronically

    Electronic marking of theory scripts by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) will begin with the November/December West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the Council said yesterday.

    WAEC’s Head of National Office, Mr Olutise Adenipekun, told members of the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN) in his office on Tuesday, that the e-marker has been introduced to align the assessment of the examination with international best practices.

    “We are providing service and the people we are providing service for are youths of the country and youth naturally are restless. So, they also want to see new things”, he said.

    Adenipekun explained that the same booklet would serve for question and answers for the theory section. As a result, candidates would no longer be allowed to take questions away from the examination hall.

    He said some teachers have undergone training to deploy the e-marker, adding that  more teachers would be trained.

    He promised that the WAEC template of assessing candidates will remain the same, adding that it will not be in the interest of Nigeria to lower the standard of the examination for whatever reason.

    Adenipekun lauded EWAN for its foresight and contributions to national growth and development through quality reports.

    In his speech, EWAN chair Tunbosun Ogundare, thanked WAEC for recognising the association.

    He also assured the body of EWAN commitment to improved education coverage towards achieving the required reform in the sector.

    He however appealed to the management of WAEC to expand the scope of its tend training and other collaborative programmes.

    Ogundare said that doing so, will enhance wider  knowledge of the education sector.

  • WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

    WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

     

    The West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Tuesday said it has secured examination centres in Agbor, Delta state and Ore in Ondo state for candidates writing the General Certificate Examination (GCE) on September 10 (Saturday) in Edo state.

    Edo state governorship election is also expected to hold on the same day secondary schools students in the state are expected to sit for their mathematics paper.

    This is just as INEC confirmed on Tuesday that it would go ahead with the poll as planned despite protest from secondary school students who called for a shift in the date of the election to allow them write their papers.

    The Head, Public Affairs for WAEC Nigeria, Demianus Ojijeogu, who spoke with our reporter in Abuja yesterday, said the council would go ahead with the examination on that day.

    Ojijeogu also stated that WAEC would not be responsible for the relocation of the candidates to the two states, adding that the council is hoping the state government would assist with the relocation of the candidates.

    He added that WAEC officials would be on ground to conduct the examination for candidates who would be at the venue of the examination.

    “We went to Agbor, we have already secured venue. We went to Ore in Ondo state to secure exam centres for them. So that is where we are. Yes we have. Agbor in Delta state and Ore in Ondo state. We have secured centres already.

    “No. It’s our belief that the Edo State Government being the guardian of the candidates can make such an arrangement & also provide security for them.

    “If push comes to show, we will go and wait for them. Our exam officials will be in Ore in Ondo and Agbor in Delta state in the centres designated for that exams on that day. Those that come we will conduct exams for them but we still believe that something is going to happen between now and tomorrow,” he said in a text message sent to our reporter.

    He explained that WAEC wrote a letter to INEC to allow the candidates and WAEC officials free movement on the day of the examination after proper accreditation.

    According to him, the request was turned down for security reasons, adding that the police insisted on restriction of movement on that day.

    He said: “We wrote to INEC headquarters in Abuja and copied the state INEC in Edo state, copied the commissioner of police alerting them that our mathematics paper is clashing with the election.

    “Our view was that they should exempt our examination officials who will be properly accredited and candidates who will also be identified, they should grant them exemption from the restriction of government on that day so that they can write the paper because the subject is a core subject. It is mathematics.

    “The next thing we got a reply from INEC and even the commissioner of police inviting us for a meeting in Benin City. That was on august 25th. I was at the meeting and then when we got to the meeting we discovered that they had already met on the level of inter-agency consultative committee on election in edo state and trashed our issue that WAEC should relocate the candidates to states that is closer to Edo state.

    “We told them that this thing is not workable. Because one, research has shown that when you move candidates from where they have prepared for exams to another state or where they have been writing exams to another location if affects them psychologically.

    “On Wednesday, on the 29th of august we got a letter INEC sent to us saying that the commission in liaison with the security operating in Edo state after our joint meeting with officials of the organization advised WAEC to relocate the candidates to any state that are… to Edo state. This position is borne out of the fact that movement of every Nigerian living in edo state will be restricted on the election Day and such security arrangement cannot be compromised.

    They said that they cannot grant our request for the exemption of examination functionaries and candidates from any movement on the day of the election so we were left with nothing. There is nothing else to do. The exam must be conducted. It is an international exam in the sense that the paper will be written in the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, as well as in Nigeria at the same time.

    “We have one other thing to do since they don’t want a gathering on the election day because they said it will compromise election security for the sake of these children let us move these centres to neighbouring states- delta, and Ondo.

    “We are also pleading with the government. We are expecting that the government can shift ground and say okay, since there will be free movement on that day for eligible voters that the candidates can also be allowed to go and write the exam as long as they are properly identified. We are still expecting that to happen.”

     

    End.

     

     

  • Edo polls: WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

    Edo polls: WAEC relocates candidates to Delta, Ondo

    The West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Tuesday said it has secured examination centres in Agbor, Delta state and Ore in Ondo state for candidates writing the General Certificate Examination (GCE) on Saturday,  September 10 in Edo state.

    It will be recalled that Edo state governorship election is expected to hold on the same day secondary schools students in the state are expected to sit for their mathematics paper.

    This is just as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed on Tuesday that it would go ahead with the poll as planned despite protest from secondary school students who called for a shift in the date of the election to allow them write their papers.

    INEC through the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of the commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, also said it would not be involved in the relocation of the candidates.

    It added that the idea to relocate candidates to other states for examination is purely the responsibility of the state government, adding that INEC would not compensate any candidate.

    The Head, Public Affairs for WAEC Nigeria, Demianus Ojijeogu, who spoke with our reporter in Abuja yesterday, said the council would go ahead with the examination on that day.

    Ojijeogu also stated that WAEC would not be responsible for the relocation of the candidates to the two states, adding that the council is hoping the state government would assist with the relocation of the candidates.

    He added that WAEC officials would be on ground to conduct the examination for candidates who would be at the venue of the examination.

    “We went to Agbor, we have already secured venue. We went to Ore in Ondo state to secure exam centres for them. So that is where we are. Yes we have. Agbor in Delta state and Ore in Ondo state. We have secured centres already.

    “No. It’s our belief that the Edo State Government being the guardian of the candidates can make such an arrangement & also provide security for them.

    “If push comes to show, we will go and wait for them. Our exam officials will be in Ore in Ondo and Agbor in Delta state in the centres designated for that exams on that day. Those that come we will conduct exams for them but we still believe that something is going to happen between now and tomorrow,” he said in a text message sent to our reporter.

    He explained that WAEC wrote a letter to INEC to allow the candidates and WAEC officials free movement on the day of the examination after proper accreditation.

    According to him, the request was turned down for security reasons, adding that the police insisted on restriction of movement on that day.

    He said: “We wrote to INEC headquarters in Abuja and copied the state INEC in Edo state, copied the commissioner of police alerting them that our mathematics paper is clashing with the election.

    “Our view was that they should exempt our examination officials who will be properly accredited and candidates who will also be identified, they should grant them exemption from the restriction of government on that day so that they can write the paper because the subject is a core subject. It is mathematics.

    “The next thing we got a reply from INEC and even the commissioner of police inviting us for a meeting in Benin City. That was on august 25th. I was at the meeting and then when we got to the meeting we discovered that they had already met on the level of inter-agency consultative committee on election in edo state and trashed our issue that WAEC should relocate the candidates to states that is closer to Edo state.

    “We told them that this thing is not workable. Because one, research has shown that when you move candidates from where they have prepared for exams to another state or where they have been writing exams to another location if affects them psychologically.

    “On Wednesday, on the 29th of august we got a letter INEC sent to us saying that the commission in liaison with the security operating in Edo state after our joint meeting with officials of the organization advised WAEC to relocate the candidates to any state that are… to Edo state. This position is borne out of the fact that movement of every Nigerian living in edo state will be restricted on the election Day and such security arrangement cannot be compromised.

    They said that they cannot grant our request for the exemption of examination functionaries and candidates from any movement on the day of the election so we were left with nothing. There is nothing else to do. The exam must be conducted. It is an international exam in the sense that the paper will be written in the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, as well as in Nigeria at the same time.

    “We have one other thing to do since they don’t want a gathering on the election day because they said it will compromise election security for the sake of these children let us move these centres to neighbouring states- delta, and Ondo.

    “We are also pleading with the government. We are expecting that the government can shift ground and say okay, since there will be free movement on that day for eligible voters that the candidates can also be allowed to go and write the exam as long as they are properly identified. We are still expecting that to happen.”

  • Low WAEC results: Minister reads riot act

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has challenged school principals in the FCT to ensure that from next academic session, all secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory attain at least 50 per cent success in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).

    Bello who gave the challenge during a meeting with school principals in the Territory said that the 30 percent success recorded in 2016 WAEC and NECO in FCT schools is no longer acceptable.

    The minister who was represented at the meeting by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye insisted that students must achieve at least 50 per cent or the principal will be penalised.

    According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the Minister warned that the FCT Administration will no longer accept excuses of poor infrastructure or inadequate teachers; saying that school principals must do everything to ensure that this situation is changed.

    He said it is unthinkable that the FCT with the largest concentration of the elite, which should be setting the pace for other states, is now turning out a measly 30 percent success in very critical examinations as WAEC and NECO.

    “The mandate I will give you that goes with sanction; for this new session, every principal must be determined that for WAEC and NECO in 2017, any principal that does not achieve 50 percent success should just quietly leave that school because the principal is going to be removed. If you don’t achieve 50 percent success in WAEC and NECO 2017, you are no longer fit to be a principal in FCT and I mean it. That is the minimum that we want for every school and you must work towards it,” he stressed.

    The Minister added, “We want the success rate to change. That is very important. We cannot be gathering students and at the end of their final year, all they will have is three credits. I don’t know whether you are proud as a principal that in your school, the success rate is five percent. I want principals that will be determined to say in my school, things must change.

    Infrastructure or no infrastructure, resources or no resources, I want to put myself as a sacrifice and change things.  That is what I want to do before I leave the service. I want to be known to have done something good for Nigeria.”

    Bello also warned principals to desist from charging illegal fees of any sort when provisions have already been made through the FCT Secondary Education Board to run these schools; emphasizing that principals who persist with this ignoble act would also attract heavy sanctions from the FCT Administration.

    His words: “My mission is not to come and make you sad; but the situation is bad and you know it and we are ready to tackle it. But you must be up and doing too and that is why I said I must call all the principals and talk to you to do the right things. That is what this Administration is about. We are ready to put the right things in place. We are ready to work for Nigeria. But we want people that will join us to do this. That is why when you come to FCT today, it is not business as usual and we want to send that message down to our institutions.”

     

  • WAEC records over 50 per cent pass

    WAEC records over 50 per cent pass

    For the first time in over a decade, 52.97 per cent candidates have credits in English language, Mathematics and three other subjects in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

    The feat was achieved by 878,040 candidates of the 1,544,234 who wrote the May/June 2016 SSCE.

    Announcing the results yesterday, the Head of National Office (HNO), WAEC, Mr. Olutise Adenipekun, attributed the improved performance to commitment by the candidates, their teachers and the government.

    He said the council did not reduce its standard for the examination.

    Adenipekun said: “There were slight improvements in 2014 and 2015. We want to believe it must have been a combination of many factors. WAEC will not compromise its standard. I believe the candidates put in their best. It will not be to their credit alone, but to the credit of their teachers and the government.”

    He called for the sustenance of the performance, noting: “This trend of improvement should be sustained. We are looking forward to next year for improved performance.”

    Giving a breakdown of the results, Adenipekun said 158,718 candidates (9.74 per cent) have some of their results withheld because of errors at the registration stage; while 137,295 have their results withheld for examination malpractice.”

    The HNO said the results withheld for errors would be released once corrected by the council, while those withheld for malpractice will only be released if the candidates are cleared by the National Examinations Committee (NEC).

    “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 through their schools,” he said.

    He said the results will be accessible to the candidates from today.

    Adenipekun said those owing would be unable to access their results online. According to him, some of those in this category may be pupils in public schools sponsored by state governments.

  • WAEC, stakeholders dialogue on malpractice

    Acting Head of Test Administration for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mrs Francisca Iweha-Onukwu, has called on all stakeholders in the education sector to join in fighting examination malpractice.

    Giving her opening remarks at the 2016 National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Examination Malpractice held at Dansol High School, Ogba, Mrs Iweha-Onukwu said the war against examination malpractice cannot be won by examining bodies alone, without the cooperation of parents, teachers, proprietors, and others.

    She said it was important to check examination malpractice because of its adverse effect on the society.

    “When extraneous factors affect the conduct of an examination, the purposes which the results of such examinations are meant to serve are also affected. Such purposes could include determination of level of achievement, promotion, admission, employment or even the licensing of the practice of a profession,” she said.

    In a paper titled: “Examination Malpractice, Causes, Sanctions, and Remedies”, the Senior Assistant Registrar, Head of Examination, Ikeja, Mrs Alero John-Nwafa, identified many causes of examination malpractices, including: “poor infrastructure, emphasis on certificate, parental pressure, poor supervision of candidates, poor coverage of syllabuses,” among others.

    She said the effect of perpetrating examination malpractice not only leads to cancellation of results but a loss of confidence in the education system.

    Mrs John-Nwafa also read a list of consequences that follow being caught as an exam cheat, which include cancelation of subject or entire results of candidates, and ban or imposition of fine (N250,000) on schools involved.

    To check examination malpractice, she recommended that the values of students be re-oriented; schools be equipped with requisite facilities and employ qualified teachers; parents should pay more attention to their wards, among others.  She also called for the establishment of a body to deal with offenses.

    “There should be a special commission against examination malpractice like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC,” she said.

    The paper generated discussions by a panel of seasoned test administrators and educators.  Teachers and pupils among the audience also contributed their views.

    Mr Abiodun Oni, a representative of the Lagos State Ministry of Education warned that failure to check examination malpractice could increase unrest in the society.

    “If examination malpractice is not eradicated totally, the society will not have any rest.  You will have people displaying professional misconduct at every level,” he warned.

    Alhaji Kafar Babatunde, Ag Head of Test Development, WAEC, blamed poor facilities in school and parental pressure for examination malpractices.  He said many public schools lack facilities to prepare their candidates for public examination.

    “I was in a state, exam was starting the next week and they were asking schools to come for laboratory equipment.  It means the students had not been doing practical. Definitely, it would encourage malpractice,” he said.

    Kafar also shared how a parent sought his help to give expo to her son so he could pass.  He said he gave the boy past questions instead.

    “When I gave him the past questions, he was very sad.  But he studied them and passed very well.  After that, he respected me,” he said.

    Kafar said it was a shame that WAEC can no longer keep question papers ahead of time in custody of school principals like in the past.

    “In those days the question papers were kept with principals and the scripts collected some days after the examination.  Can we do that now?  If you know the stress WAEC is going through to conduct examination, you would pity us.  By 4am, when exam is on, our staff will be on the road because we cannot give question papers to anybody.  We used to give questions to banks, police station, imams, pastors…they all betrayed us,” he lamented.

    Principal of Faith Academy, Gowon Estate, Mr Ishola Ayoade, warned pupils to desist from examination malpractice because the success it brings does not last.

    “Examination malpractice looks like an easy route to success.  It is fast but does not last.  It denies you of the true definition of success.  You cannot have true success without hard work,” he said.

    For teachers of Lagos public schools, being implicated as abetting examination malpractices has dire consequences, said Mr Moshood Rafiu of the Lagos State Ministry of Education.  He said teachers who were caught in the past were demoted, dismissed or issued serious warning.  He also said public schools de-recognised for perpetrating examination malpractice did not get help from the government to pay the N250,000 fine to WAEC.

    Ruth Lawal, a pupil of Abibat Mogaji Senior Secondary School, Ojodu, said some pupils may be forced to cheat in exams because they stay with guardians who do not support their education fully.

    “Most pupils living with guardians find it difficult to study.  Eighty per cent of guardians do not encourage their wards to study.  They load them with too many chores,” she said.

  • WAEC: examiners safety is sure

    WAEC: examiners safety is sure

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Monday assured its over 120,000 examiners of their safety in all the 80 marking centres spread across the country.

    Mr Damianus Ojijeogu, the Head, Public Affairs of WAEC, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    Ojijeogu spoke as the council’s examiners were set for the marking of the 2016 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) scripts.

    “ We are assuring all examiners that will be participating in the coordination and marking of the examination scripts of their safety in all the centres across the country.

    “We have personnel that will assist them in getting their jobs done without hitch.

    “The marking is expected to last for three weeks after which the results will be announced in August.

    “I want to commend the examiners for the vital roles they played during our examinations.

    “They actually do not do it because of what they will get as gratification, but for the passion they have for their jobs as teachers and educationists,” he said.

     

  • Lagos expends N561m on WAEC exams

    Lagos expends N561m on WAEC exams

    To lessen the burden of parents in the academic pursuit of their wards, Lagos State Government yesterday said it paid a total sum of N561, 346,100 for 44,005 (Five hundred and sixty one million, three hundred and forty Six thousand, One hundred naira ) on Senior Secondary School pupils who sat for this year’s May/June  West African Examination Council (WAEC).

    Deputy Governor Idiat  Oluranti Adebule, who also superintend over the Ministry of Education made the disclosure during the Ministerial Press Briefing

    Adebule said the payment was part of government’s commitment to lessen the burden of parents and to strengthen the growth of quality education

    She disclosed further that, 44,032 students sat for the 2016 mock exam out of which 44,005 were certified fit to sit for WAEC from the state’s public secondary schools.

    The deputy governor said the government as parts of the measure to ensure security in the state public schools, constructed wall fences in some schools and partnered with the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies, noting that the effort is yielding positive results as there is more security in public schools now than ever.

    On infrastructural development, she  said the state had 1, 014 primary schools, 349 junior secondary schools, 319 senior secondary schools and five technical colleges.

    Construction of more schools, she said, is in the pipeline to accommodate more pupils.

    She also said the state initiated the ‘Support Our Schools’ project to accommodate partnership with individuals and organisations to improve the state’s education system, adding that government alone cannot meet all the requirements of achieving total quality education.

    “We need support in the areas of libraries, classrooms, furniture, toilets, science laboratories and ICT rooms. I implore well-meaning individuals and organisations to key into this initiative to contribute and complement government’s efforts as investment in education are service to humanity,” she said.

    Also speaking, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, said works are ongoing to build a Lagos State Digital Library which would be an online platform offering education content to residents.

    Bank-Olemoh said the library project would be delivered in three phases and the first phase would be launched in September for the new school year.

    He said the Agency for Mass Education would commence the registration of Continuing Education Centres in the state for data collection and proper monitoring.

    On the ‘Kick Illiteracy Out of Lagos’ project, Bank-Olemoh said plans were on to partner with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and religious organisations to eradicate illiteracy and raise the literacy rate from 87 per cent to 95 per cent over the next three years.