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Tag: WAEC

  • WAEC blames private schools for lingering malpractice

    WAEC blames private schools for lingering malpractice

    •Council cancels results of candidates
    involved in 2015 Nov/Dec WASSCE

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said that private schools’ registration of non-students for the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) constitutes a hindrance to its fight against examinations’ malpractice.

    It observed that the level of examination malpractices reduced in 2015 November/December diet of the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)compared to 2014 and 2013.

    The council has, however, cancelled the results of candidates involved in examination malpractice during the 2015 WASSCE.

    In a communiqué released after its 61st meeting of the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) – the highest decision-making organ of the council- in March and signed by the council’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, the committee enjoined state governments to sanction erring proprietors and schools to serve as a deterrent.

    The communiqué said the meeting of the council’s NEC was held on Wednesday, March 30 and Thursday, March 31 in Lagos. It said that the committee also discussed the reports received on irregularity, special and clemency cases arising from the conduct of the 2015 May/June WASSCE.

    The communiqué said: “The committee decried the situation whereby private schools who do not have regular students register candidates for school examinations and also observed the high incidence of examination malpractice in private schools due largely to the registration of non-students for and enjoined the state governments to sanction erring proprietors and schools to serve as a deterrent.”

    The NEC approved appropriate sanctions in all established cases of malpractice, as prescribed by the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the council’s examinations.

    It approved that the results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Entire Results (CER) to be cancelled as well as results of those involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Subject Results (CSR).

    The statement added that some candidates would also suffer other sanctions such as “barring them from sitting for the council’s examinations for a certain number of years while some schools will be derecognised.”

    The communiqué stressed that the decisions of the committee would be implemented immediately and the affected candidates and schools would be notified by the council.

    It said the results of candidates, who were exonerated by the committee would be released.

    For states with high cases of examination malpractice, the committee resolved that WAEC, through its state offices, would partner with the Ministries of Education in those states for thorough policing and monitoring of examination centres during the WASSCE to forestall examination fraud.

    The committee lauded WAEC and state governments for their roles in the reduced cases of malpractices during the last examination in 2015, in comparison with 2013 and 2014.

    “The committee, having observed that ‘collusion’ had the highest percentage of examination malpractice cases recorded in the 2015 WASSCE for private candidates, hailed the council for developing a software to defeat collusion by candidates in multiple choice questions in its examinations,” the statement read.

    Concerning last year’s examinations, NEC noted that the standard of the papers compared well with those of previous years.

    “With regard to the General Résumé of the Chief Examiners’ Reports on the November/ December 2015 WASSCE, the committee noted the observation by the chief examiners that the standard of the papers compared well with those of previous years. The chief examiners generally reported that the instructions were clear; questions were well-structured, straightforward and within the scope of the syllabus. They also agreed that the marking schemes were exhaustive and that marks were well distributed,” it said.

  • WAEC condoles with family, Edo on Erediauwa’s demise

    WAEC condoles with family, Edo on Erediauwa’s demise

    The management of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has commiserated with the royal family, chiefs, elders and people of the Benin Kingdom on the demise of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolor, Oba Erediauwa, the Oba of Benin, the Edo State capital.

    The monarch was 92.

    The council’s delegation, led by its Registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, visited Benin on May 10 and was received on behalf of the royal family by the crown prince and Edaiken N’Uselu, at the Edaiken Palace in Benin.

    Uwadiae extolled the virtues of the late Oba Erediauwa, recounting some of his contributions to the education of youths at all levels.

    The WAEC registrar recalled the close relationship the late monarch maintained with the council during his reign.

    He said Oba Erediauwa’s love and passion for education was legendary, adding that he instituted numerous prizes and made generous donations to the council.

    Uwadiae said: “In his youthful days in particular, he delivered countless inspiring talks at various educational fora. He stimulated engaging discussions on issues affecting the Nigerian university system, assisted institutions in the areas of discipline, funding and provision of infrastructure.

    “Such was the impact he made that diverse honours were bestowed on him, including WAEC’s ‘Distinguished Friend of Council Award’, conferred on him in March 2005 for endorsing our mandate and sharing our vision; being a massive pillar of support by identifying with our programmes; contributing to the seed capital for the WAEC Endowment Fund at its launch in Nigeria in 1985; encouraging our efforts to inculcate “excellence, integrity and hard work” among students and the youth; donating two trophies each year (since 1985) for the two schools in Nigeria that produce the “best male” and “best female” candidates respectively in our international examination; gracing our students’ award ceremonies in Nigeria with his royal presence, among others.”

    The registrar also prayed God to grant Edaiken N’Uselu the wisdom to confidently take over the reins of government in Benin Kingdom.

    Edaiken welcomed the WAEC delegation to Benin Kingdom and expressed appreciation for the Council’s warm remarks about the late monarch.

    A statement by WAEC’s Head of Public Relations Affairs, Abiodun Aduloju said the crown prince pledged to make efforts in the years ahead to sustain and build upon his father’s relationship with the council.

  • WAEC okays conduct of May/June exam

    WAEC okays conduct of May/June exam

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has described as successful, the conduct of its May/June 2016 diet examination, few days to its end.

    Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Mr. Damianus Ojijeogu spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

    He said this year’s examination started in February and will end on May 13 and according to him, there has been no negative report since it started, especially in states with security concerns.

    “We are happy with the turnout of events so far. The examination is almost concluded and there has been no record of hitches from the centres.

    “We are particularly happy that the conduct is going on smoothly in states with security issues. This is largely due to the fact that we used our workers who are indigenes of those areas, and also deployed new technology.

    “In all, the examination is a huge success, even with a few days to its end. The only hitch we recorded was fuel scarcity, which almost affected our logistics and movement of staff and materials,” he said.

    Ojijeogu said marking would begin in June to facilitate an early release of results, even as he thanked supervisors and the examiners for their efforts and commitment towards the success of the conduct of the examination.

    He, however, noted that a lot still needed to be done in the aspect of discipline. “We appeal to the state’ ministry of education to always send their staffs with proven integrity to represent their schools”.

  • Examination malpractice worries WAEC – Official

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Saturday identified examination malpractice as a major challenge militating against its operations in its 64 years of existence.

    The council’s Head of Test Administration, Mrs Frances Iweha-Onukwu, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to her, the scourge is a canker worm that has eaten deep in the fabric among candidates, not only in Nigeria, but also in member countries.

    She, however, noted that the council was gradually winning the war as it kept introducing new cutting-edge technology to stop the ugly trend.

    “One major challenge we are battling against, since inception, has been that of examination malpractice, but we are happy that we are winning the war.

    “We know that the candidates might want to beat our technology, but we will continue to make sure that we check them in any way they try,’’ she told NAN.

    According to Iweha-Onukwu, another major challenge is the ‘rogue website’.

    “Tackling ‘rogue website’ has been a serious challenge the board is facing,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that a rogue website is one that subverts a legitimate web site by appearing to replace it.

    Iweha-Onukwu said that perpetrators of such act use rogue website to distract lazy candidates, who, instead of studying hard for their examination, busy themselves logging onto the rogue website.

    She, however, said that many operators of the fake sites were being apprehended with the help of security agents.

    The official said her desire was to see the council compete favourably with international examination bodies like the Educational Testing Service (ETS) among others.(NAN)

  • ‘WAEC ready for May/June exam’

    ‘WAEC ready for May/June exam’

    The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) is ready for the 2016 May/June West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), its Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Damianus Ojijeogu, said yesterday.

    Ojijeogu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos: “We are prepared to conduct the examination in every part of the country as logistics are on ground.

    “We have briefed our staff concerning the exercise and we expect them to ensure a success of the examination.

    “Security and examination materials have been printed and are being deployed in the examination centres across the country.”

    According to Ojijeogu, the council put in place necessary security arrangement to ensure protection of life and properties, especially in areas with security concern.

    “We are also prepared for areas with security challenges, which we are not to let out.

    “The practical aspect of the examination started in February but the main papers are expected to begin on March 30.

    “We are hopeful it will be an excellent outing,’’ he said.

  • WAEC ready for May/June examination -Spokesman

    WAEC ready for May/June examination -Spokesman

    The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) says it has concluded all arrangements for the conduct of the 2016 May/June West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) nationwide.

    The council’s Public Affairs Officer, Mr Damianus Ojijeogu, disclosed this in an interview with the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

    “We are fully prepared to conduct the examination in every part of the country as all logistics are fully on ground.

    “Already, we have briefed all of our staff concerning the exercise and we expect them to put in their best in order to ensure a huge success of the examination.

    “Security and examination materials have all been printed and are currently being deployed to the various examination centres across the country,’’ he said.

    According to Ojijeogu, the council has put in place necessary security arrangement to ensure protection of lives and properties, especially in areas with security concern.

    “We are also prepared fully for areas with security challenges, which we are not to let out.

    “The practical aspect of the examination started in February but the main papers are expected to begin on March 30.

    “We are hopeful that it will be an excellent outing,’’ he said.

  • WAEC releases statistics on Nov/Dec WASSCE

    WAEC releases statistics on Nov/Dec WASSCE

    Only 29.33 percent (67,713) of the 237,154 candidates who sat for the November/December 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates made credits and above in at least five subjects, including English and Mathematics – which is the minimum O Level requirement for admission into tertiary institutions.

    The statistics was contained in a statement issued by the Public Affairs Department of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) yesterday – a day after the Head of National Office (HNO), Mr Olutise Isaac Adenipekun announced the release of the results to journalists but declined to publicise that bit.

    The statement simply read : “?A total of 67,713 candidates, representing 29.33% obtained credits in 5 subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.”

    On Thursday, while annou?ncing the release of the results, Adenipekun had explained that judging performance based on the number of those that had five credits and above including English and Mathematics was misleading because the November/December diet of the WASSCE is regarded as a  make up examination for many candidates.

  • WAEC releases Nov/Dec results

    WAEC releases Nov/Dec results

    The Head of Nigerian National Office (HNO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr Olutise Isaac Adenipekun, has said the institution is ready to open its books for examination by the Federal Government.

    Adenipekun spoke while announcing the release of the results of the November/December 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates at the council’s headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, Thursday.

    He spoke in response to questions about the council’s readiness to face a planned probe by the Federal Government announced earlier this week.

    The WAEC Boss, who stepped into the office of HNO just last week, said the council’s accounts audits are up to date.

    He said: “WAEC is an international organisation that relies mostly on best practices in management.  WAEC Nigeria and WAEC in other member-countries owe it a duty that their financial records must be updated every year such that as I am speaking with you, the audited account of Council is up to date – that is as at December 2014.  And that audited account has gone through the required processes.  And the Council at the highest level has also approved that.  And that audited account for 2014 and all other previous years are available for scrutiny.

    “And of course, our internal processes and procedures as far as financial management is concerned are also unbeatable.  The internal audit department of WAEC is arranged and organised in such a way that they are serving (as) a good watchdog to ensure that financial mismanagement is never allowed.  And when and where it is detected, it is promptly reported, and prompt action is also taken to correct it.  In that light therefore, the Council in Nigeria is ever ready to open its books for scrutiny – not only for financial mismanagement but it might also be for commendation – for Government to commend WAEC for having done a good job in managing its finances.”

    Presenting the statistics of performance for the November/December 2015 WASSCE, Adenipekun said of the 237,154 candidates that sat for the examination, 113,573 candidates made credits in five subjects and above.

    He however declined to publicise the percentage of candidates that made credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics – which is the benchmark used for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

    The HNO explained that the yardstick, popularly used to gauge performance in the examination, was not accurate for measuring pass/failure rate because the November/December WASSCE diet is a makeup examination – unlike the May/June WASSCE, which is a school-based examination mostly written by SS3 pupils for the first time.

    He said: “The November/December diet is more or less a makeup examination for many of the candidates.  So if it is seen as mainly a makeup examination, then to now use the yardstick of five credits including English and Mathematics may be misleading in comparing.  Because, for instance, a candidate that might have made seven credits in the May/June exam, may only need a credit in Mathematics or a credit in English Language only for him or her to have had a complete result that would allow him to continue in his/her educational pursuit.”

    Adenipekun however noted that the Council could make the statistics available to researchers for research purpose on request.

    Of the 237,154 candidates that registered for the examination, 99.82 per cent had their results released.

    However, 1,612 candidates have their results withheld because of errors Adenipekun said are being corrected by the council.

    Also, some 28,768 candidates are being investigated for their involvement in examination malpractices.

     

  • Special audit for WAEC, NECO, others

    Special audit for WAEC, NECO, others

    The Federal Government has ordered a “special sudit” of the books of some government funded agencies to get a clearer picture of their expenses.

    The Nation gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the special audit of the agencies when some irregularities were discovered in their books.

    According to a source, who declined to be named because he is not permitted to talk to the media, the government wants to “look  into the expenses, printing costs (considered very high), revenue sharing contracts and other suspected irregularities of these government funded bodies”.

    The special audit is part of the government’s “efforts to focus on non oil revenues generated through its board and agencies, which are not accounted for and, therefore, resulting leakages.

    For the special audit is the West African Examination Council (WAEC). In 2014, WAEC’s salary/overhead capital from the Federal Government of Nigeria totalled N4.8 billion representing 100 per cent funding by the Federal Government.

    The examination body’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from fees made from public sale of forms and other examination materials was put at N16.6 billion from the 2014 accounts.

    What triggered the government’s interest in the financial activities of WAEC was that “all its IGR was spent on examination costs with very high charges for printing, travelling etc, resulting in lots of waste”.

    “just N25 million was paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF),” the source said.

    Also for special audit is the National Examinations Council (NECO), which in 2014 received N4.9 billion, representing 100 percent funding of its activities. The same year, NECO was said to have generated N11.7 billion, but “the same story all over again, with almost all the money spent and just N6.9 million remitted the to CRF”.

    Auditors have been assigned to these examination bodies to examine their transactions, with a view to making them remit more to the CRF and  to boost the government’s revenue base outside crude oil sales.

    Late last week, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, issued a circular on guidelines regarding budgeting, revenue and expenditure aimed at ensuring that Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) remit revenue and generate operating surpluses which, by law, ought to be credited to Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

    The circular is aimed at compelling Boards and Agencies which operate outside budgetary control to comply with Section 22(2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which lists agencies , such as Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), NIMASSA, NAFDAC, JAMB, NTA, NCC, CAC, NECO, to remit 80 percent of their operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

    The Minister of Finance had lamented that “records show very poor compliance with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Some agencies have never credited the Consolidated Revenue Fund despite having salary, capital and overhead financed by the Federal Government. Indeed, cost to income rates of 99.8 percent have been the average, meaning that they spend all their internally generated revenue and subventions released to them.”

    The Minister said such practices are not sustainable in any economic climate and with the current serious economic challenges being faced by Nigeria, “this can no longer be tolerated. Accordingly, all revenue generating agencies must comply with the circular and cut their costs.”

    In the circular sent to MDAs, the Minister said “revenues generated by all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) must be reported on a gross basis prior to any deductions. Also, all self-funded Federal Agencies are to limit their annual expenditures from their internally generated revenues to not more than 75 percent of their total gross revenue while fully funded agencies are to remit all their internally generated revenue (IGR) to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).”

    The Circular added that “henceforth, 80 percent of the resulting operating surplus by MDAs should be remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) on a quarterly basis, in accordance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.”

    To ensure sustained and regular monitoring of the financial activities of MDAs, the circular required “all MDAs funded through the annual budget must submit monthly Expenditure Transcripts and Revenue Returns, to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), while agencies not funded through the annual Federal Government budget are to prepare and submit Quarterly Management Accounts including Revenue Returns to the OAGF.”

    The Minister warned all MDAs “that in line with Financial Regulations (FR) 107, the Accountant-General of the Federation will carry out routine revenue monitoring and inspection visits to the MDAs to verify compliance with the new guidelines. The circular said any Accounting Officer/Chief Executive Officer of MDAs that defaults in remitting revenues as appropriate and as when due shall be sanctioned accordingly and the renewal of the tenure of appointment of Accounting Officers/Chief Executive Officers shall be tied to their compliance with the content the new guidelines.”

  • WAEC gets new chief

    WAEC gets new chief

    The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has appointed Mr Isaac Adenipekun as its new Head of National Office.

    A statement by its Public Affairs Officer, Mr Demianus Ojijeogu, yesterday, said Adenipekun’s appointment followed the retirement of Mr Charles Eguridu, on Tuesday.

    According to the statement, Adenipekun hails from Osun State and graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) in 1983.

    The statement said Adenipekun got a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Political Science and an M.Sc degree in International Relations from the same university in 1987.

    It said the new WAEC chief in Nigeria joined the body on October 3, 1989, as an Assistant Registrar II.

    Adenipekun, the statement added,  rose through the ranks to become Senior Assistant Registrar in 2000 and Principal Assistant Registrar in 2005.

    It further said Adenipekun was promoted Deputy Registrar in 2011.

    The new WAEC chief held several positions of accountability in the council and distinguished himself.

    The statement said he was head of Meetings and General Services Department between 1996 and 2001.

    It said Adenipekun assumed office as WAEC’s head of Nigeria National Office on December 9.

    The statement said until his appointment, he was zonal coordinator, WAEC Zonal Office, Ibadan.

    Adenipekun is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria (FCAI) and a member of the  Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM).