The Nation Newspaper

Tag: WASSCE

  • WASSCE: WAEC compiles list of erring supervisors for sanctions

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is compiling a list of supervisors who worked against the ongoing May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), for sanctions by relevant authorities.

    The council’s Head of Public Affairs Unit, Mr Damianus Ojijeogum, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

    According to him, investigations revealed that the supervisors’ photo-shopped previous examination papers and forwarded same to operators of rogue websites, who in turn, swindled gullible candidates.

    Ojijeogum said: “Our investigations also revealed that some school heads, invigilators, supervisors and candidates who succeeded in smuggling mobile phones and other electronic devices into examination halls, snapped the questions after the examination had commenced, and forwarded same to their collaborators for solutions.

    “We have been compiling a list of all supervisors found wanting; at the end of the entire exercise, we shall forward their names to the All Nigerian Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPPS) and the ministry of education for proper disciplinary measures. Such persons are not staff of WAEC; we shall blacklist them for good.”

    He said that “this cheating by any means” could be described as examination leakage as being reported by some mass media.

    “Question papers for the ongoing WASSCE did not leak as has been erroneously portrayed by a section of the media.

    “Leakage can be said to have occurred when questions get into the hands of some individuals who are not supposed to have them before the scheduled time. No such case has been established since the commencement of this examination. Rather than term it as leakage, it is correct to describe it as malpractice which we are committed to tackling.

    “We want to assure the general public that the integrity of our examination is a top priority to the council, and we remain committed in ensuring that it remains so,” he said.

    Ojijeogu told NAN that WAEC was deploying resources to introduce new techniques to protect its examinations.

    “We are all aware that one of the greatest challenges facing the education sector is examination malpractice. On our part, we shall continue to do all we can to ensure that this ugly trend is checked. We want to commend security agencies, especially the police, for partnering with us in an effort to expose and check the cankerworm,” he said.

     

  • Police burst syndicate that leaks WASSCE questions and answers

    Four suspected members of an alleged  racketeering syndicate  are now in the soup  for what the police described  as selling  forged West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) question and answer sheets.

    The Lagos State Police Command  is questioning them for their alleged role in the syndicate.

    Samuel Kayode, 28; Adebayo Ifeoluwa, 17; Alayande Ahmed, 16; and Elusode Festus, 20 were arrested in Ondo, Edo and Osun States.

    Their  alleged accomplices, said to be in Ghana, are being trailed.

    Their arrest followed reports that a syndicate was leaking exact questions and answers WAEC set for the 2018 May/June examination to some websites and WhatsApp groups subscribed to by students.

    Parading the suspects, Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal, said they were arrested by undercover operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

    Two of them are said to be  Physics and Mathematics  teachers in a private school in Ondo State.

    Also paraded was an operator of a fake WAEC center at El-Supreme Private School, Igbogbo ,Ikorodu, who allegedly defrauded people seeking to write WAEC by giving them forged questions and answer sheets.

    According to Edgal, Joshua Adeniyi of 3, Oseni Adekogbe Street, swindled hundreds of people seeking to register for WASCE, conducted examinations for them but dumped the answer scripts in his school.

    Edgal said : “Recovered from him are WAEC question papers and answer sheets suspected to have been forged, as well as photographs of all the victims who registered with him.”

    Edgal said the syndicate that leaked correct questions and answers three days to WAEC was a national embarrassment.

    He said: “Investigations revealed that these atrocities were committed through the following websites: www.ceebook.net  (07069198008); www.examloaded.com  (08162563540); www.guruscamp.com  (08132876664); www.solutionclass.com  (0806098704) and www.expotab.com (09039642826).

    There were also 32 WhatsApp groups through which the questions and answers were sent.

    “We discovered that the question papers given by these syndicates are word for word with the ones provided by WAEC for the candidates. The four suspects confessed and admitted to have committed the crime. Evidence of this was established through their mobile phones.

    “Efforts are in progress to arrest owners of the websites and also establish how the questions and answers got out of WAEC office. The command would liaise with WAEC to fish out any insider saboteur.

    “It is important for WAEC to look into this devastating development and take necessary corrective measures to prevent such leakages in future.”

    Admitting to the crime, Ola said: “I saw a website on the internet through which I contacted one Danladi, who sold nine questions to me for N9000. I sent him N500 recharge card as requested before the questions were sent. Thereafter, I created a WhatsApp group which has 25 students.

    “I released these questions and answers to the students on the platform. They only gave me N200 recharge card for each subject. But some of the subjects did not work out.

    “Only subjects like Geography, Government and Biology clicked while English and Mathematics didn’t. I started teaching two years ago. I am a Physics and Mathematics teacher.”

    Ifeoluwa, a student at the Federal University of Technology,  Akure, said he created a WhatsApp group called ‘MCC’ where he shared leaked the leaked questions and answers.

    An Iron bender, Festus Elusode said he created two WhatsApp groups,  ‘WAEC Home of Expo’ and WAEC VIP,’ where he posted the leaked examination questions and answers.

    Ahmed said he also saw the information on the internet and syndicated it to other groups he belonged to.

  • Oyo Govt hands over new model schools to school boards soon – Ajimobi

    Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State says the newly constructed model schools in the state will be handed over to the Schools Governing Board (SGB) by Match ending.

    Ajimobi made the disclosure during an inspection tour of the school’s projects in Ibadan.

    The Newsmen reports that Ajimobi visited two of the projects situated at Oremeji area of Mokola and Bashorun in Ibadan metropolis.

    Newsmen reports that Ajimobi also visited the   newly constructed model schools at Oba Akinbiyi High School, Ibadan and Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan.

    He, however, did not visit Baptist High School, Saki.

    The governor said that the projects were expected to be completed soon and would be received from the contractors in few days for handing over to the board.

    He said his administration was poised at constructing six model schools, adding that three additional schools would be constructed before the expiration of his tenure.

    “Our administration is poised at ensuring the modernisation of the state. This is part of our method of modernising education in the state.

    “We are modernising education in terms of content, curriculum and quality environment for students, which we believe is very essential,” he said.

    Ajimobi said that his administration had improved upon the curriculum in schools and several other educational reforms evolved.

    The governor said that the efforts were aimed at bringing overall improvement in the quality of education which had already been yielding fruitful results.

    Read Also:  Oyo shuts eight facilities for ‘quackery’

    According to him, you will recall that in 2017, we have the best result in West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    in the last 18 months.

    “No matter the rhetoric of our detractors, we have improved on education in the state. “We have the overall best students, both male and female from the state.”

    He said the model schools were another feathers to the cap of educational improvement in the state, adding that they had disappointed those who never believed they could do it.

    “We are doing Catch them Young, School Feeding Programme supported by the Federal Government and Oyo State Model Education System Intervention (OYOMESI) aimed at improving upon the character of students.

    “We have also evolved the school governing board to encourage participation of parents, associations, communities and students in the management of schools,” he said.

    Ajimobi cautioned the detractors, whose stock-in-trade was to lie against the government, to desist from such and embrace developmental politics.

    NAN

     

  • 322 Ikoyi, Kirikiri prisons’ inmates register for WASSCE

    322 Ikoyi, Kirikiri prisons’ inmates register for WASSCE

    Three hundred and twenty-two inmates in Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons in Lagos State registered for the West African Senior Secondary Examination (WASSCE) in the past three years, an official has said.

    The Controller of Prisons, Lagos State Command, Mr Tunde Ladipo, gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The controller said inmates only sat for WASSCE for private candidates for ordinary level certificate.

    Ladipo said 206 of the inmates were from Ikoyi Prison; the others were from the Kirikiri Prison, Apapa.

    According to the controller, 75 inmates of Ikoyi Prison registered for the 2017 WASSCE for private candidates.

    He said 66 Ikoyi Prison inmates sat for the examination in 2016 and 65 inmates in 2015.

    Ladipo said 20 inmates of the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, sat for the examination in 2015; 25 sat for it in 2016.

    He said 21 inmates of the Medium Security Prison, Kirikiri, sat for the examination in 2016; 17 took the examination in 2015.

    The controller said 14 inmates of the Female Prison, Kirikiri, took the examination in 2015; 19 sat for it in 2016.

    He said no inmate of the Kirikiri Prison registered for the examination in 2017 due to lack of sponsorship.

    Fifty-nine inmates of the Ikoyi Prison, he added, sat for the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME); 32 took the examination in 2016.

    According to Ladipo, Kirikiri Prison inmates do not sit for UTME but secure admission directly into the National Open University of Nigeria, if they pass WASCCE.

    According to him, registration of inmates for the examinations depends on sponsorship by well-meaning individuals and groups including churches and non-governmental organisations.

    “Assisting inmates to have access to education opportunities was one outstanding way of keeping alive their hope of a successful return to the larger society.

    The Nigeria Prisons Service, he said, was designed as a correction and reformation centre.

    “We are trying to transform the lives of inmates through reading that could teach them morals after serving their jail terms.

    “With these measures, they will easily get integrated into the society at the expiration of their jail terms, ’’ Ladipo said.

    The controller praised well-meaning individuals, groups and non-governmental organisations for assisting in improving the inmates’ lives.

    He landed the Controller-General of Nigeria Prisons Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed, for giving priority to reform and inmates’ welfare.

    Ladipo also hailed Lagos State Government for supporting the command with utility vehicles to facilitate its operations.

    “The controller-general recorded a remarkable achievement in the last two years with improvement in the welfare and reformation of inmates.

    “Inmates are trained in different vocations such as barbing, tailoring, art and design as well as bead making to empower them to be self-employed after their jail terms.

    “We thank the state government and NGOs that have been supporting our operations,’’ Ladipo said.

     

  • ‘322 prisons inmates registered for WASSCE’

    ‘322 prisons inmates registered for WASSCE’

    A total of 322 inmates from Ikoyi and Kirikiri prisons in Lagos registered for the West African Senior Secondary Examination (WASSCE) in the last three years.

    The Controller of Prisons, Lagos State Command, Mr. Tunde Ladipo, disclosed this on Tuesday.

    The controller said inmates only sat for WASSCE for private candidates for ordinary level certificate.

    Ladipo said 206 of the inmates were from Ikoyi Prison, while 116 were from the Kirikiri Prison, Apapa.

    According to the controller, 75 inmates of Ikoyi Prison registered for the 2017 WASSCE for private candidates.

    He said 65 and 66 inmates of Ikoyi Prison sat for the examination in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

    Ladipo said 20 inmates of the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri, sat for the examination in 2015 while 25 sat for it last year.

    “17 inmates of the Medium Security Prison, Kirikiri, sat for the examination in 2015 while 21 took it in 2016,” the prison controller added.

    NAN

     

  • WAEC withholds 214,952 results

    WAEC withholds 214,952 results

    •214,952 candidates’ results withheld

    Precisely 59.22 per cent of 1,559,192 candidates, who wrote the May/June 2017 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) made credits in five subjects, including english and mathematics, it was learnt yesterday.

    Announcing the results at the WAEC headquarters in Lagos, the Head of National Office (HNO), Mr. Olu Adenipekun said the performance was a significant improvement to last year’s 52.97 per cent and 2015, which was 38.68 per cent.

    “There has been a significant improvement and it is our hope that this will continue and not just be a fluke.  We hope schools will take advantage of this to prepare students better for the examination,” he said.

    The HNO said the council would conduct examinations for private candidates twice in a year from next year.

    Adenipekun, however, said two categories of candidates will have to wait for some of their results either to be released or cancelled.

    Results of candidates in the first group (95,734) are still being processed because of errors traceable to them and 214,952 others are investigated for examination malpractices.

    “The results of 214,952 candidates, representing 13.79 per cent of the total candidature for the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of 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 through their schools,” he said.

    Adenipekun said WAEC was able to achieve its Project 60 target of releasing results 60 days after examination, owing to improved ICT facilities.

    He added that the council would work towards even earlier releases in future.

    “We came up with Project 60, a self-imposed time limit for candidates to wait for release of result after the examination.  We are hoping to be able to release the result even faster.  We are looking at 45 days next time,” he said.

    Regarding the conduct of two separate examinations for private candidates yearly, Adenipekun said the decision was taken at 65th Annual Council Meeting of WAEC member countries in Abuja in March.

    “I am happy to inform you that the Nigeria National Office of the council has concluded arrangements to commence the conduct of the additional diet of the WASSCE for private candidates from January/February, 2018,” he said.

  • WAEC to begin additional WASSCE

    THE West African Examination Council (WEAC) will next year begin additional diet for candidates, its Registrar Dr. Iyi Uwadiae said yesterday.

    Announcing the new diet at the council’s office in Agidingbi, Ikeja, Uwadiae, said Nigeria will take the lead among the five member countries – Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and The Gambia – by beginning the examination in February.

    Explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Uwadiae said while regular pupils  may wish to retake same examination (provided they did not do well) in the October November diet, their private counterparts, who sit for the same exam in October/November diet, may not enjoy the same luxury.

    This development, he said, created concerns among stakeholders, hence the introduction of the third diet.

    He said: “With growing concerns among the stakeholders on what they perceive as discrimination or denial of equal opportunity against private candidates, there has been a wave of agitation, criticism and appeal across the sub-region for the council to find a way of ameliorating the agony of the long waiting experienced by private candidates who desire another attempt by WASSCE.

    “This situation is often cited as being responsible for the level of desperation exhibited by perpetrators of malpractice at the private candidates’ examination centres. Council, after painstakingly considering all ramifications of the matter, has finally given approval for the National Offices to commence the conduct of one additional diet each year of WASSCE for private candidates.”

    On the scheduled date, Uwadiae, who was the immediate past Head of National Office  in Nigeria, said the new diet would afford candidates, whose WASSCE private result would have been released by December, an opportunity to retake another during the February diet and still meet the admission deadline.

     

  • 250 IDP’S for WASSCE in Maiduguri

    250 IDP’S for WASSCE in Maiduguri

    No fewer than two hundred and fifty internally displaced persons, mostly children are currently engaged in this year’s West African Senior School Certficate examination in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

    This development is coming at the directives of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima that some of the students displaced along with their parents be evaluated to sit for the exam so  as to continue with their education.

    The chairman, Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Satomi who monitored the students’  participation at three centers in Maiduguri, said those writing passed a special mock exam conducted for about 1,000 IDPs students  who were in their final year at secondary schools before they were displaced.

    Satomi said the students underwent special classes and comprehensive tutorials organised for them in camps with volunteer tutors who took part in guiding all SS3 IDP’s through WAEC syllabus.

    Our correspondent gathered it was the first time IDPs’ students are writing the WAEC since they were forced out of their homes by Boko Haram insurgents at different times in 2014.

    The demographic distribution of the students include 94 females and 156 males who were once victims of insurgency.

    Satomi said:  “The students were   first evaluated and enrolled into four senior secondary schools, and provided with free uniforms, sandals, bags and books in addition to special tutorials after school hours to enable them catch up.

    “The government released funds to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency which we used in paying the WAEC fees of all the students. As you know, in Borno, the state government pays for WAEC but parents pay a counterpart of N6., 500 as a show of commitment.

    “So, what SEMA paid was the counterpart since the government already paid for all WAEC students across Borno State. Mock exam was organised for over 1,000 IDP’S but out of them, 250 did well and were believed to be emotionally and academically set for this year’s WAEC. The governor also asked us to secure JAMB forms for all of them which is being done, we hope that they will all do well and become eligible for university admission by end of the year.”

  • Best WASSCE student gets cash, schorlarship

    Best WASSCE student gets cash, schorlarship

    The overall best student in West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2015, David Babalola, has been honoured by the newly inaugurated School Governing Board (SGB), of Jericho High School, Ibadan.

    The Chairman of SGB, Jericho High School, Michael Ale,  presented N100,000 to Babalola, who is  studying Medicine at the University of Ibadan (UI).

    Babalola, who was also presented a cheque of N250,000 by Oyo State Govawarded a scholarship throughout the rest of his studies in UI.

    Ale, who is also the National President of Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners & Practitioners (AWDROP, said: “The more you encourage a child, the more he grows in knowledge, urging parents and guardians to tutor their children into excellence.”

    On his new appointment, he said: “As it is clearly stated in our letter of appointment not to meddle with the school law or the school education policy, but it’s for us to go through the policy that has been carefully selected.

    “I am very ready to use my acumen as a development practitioner, as a project manager to see beyond now. We shall look beyond now to five years to see that we bring value that is necessary, the value that we expected in a public school that will look more like private settings, especially my Alma Mata. Jericho High School brought me up to this level, it invested in me and has done a lot for me in the area of education, social interaction, ethics and moral value.

    “We will ensure that will turn the face of education around in the school from the area of decadence, and we will inculcate morals in the student. Within the next two years they will experience great transformation especially in the performance of the student and I can say very clearly that students can’t perform without teachers, so we are going to start our repositioning from the teachers. Teachers too cannot perform without an enabling environment, which we are going to start from an enabling environment, there cannot be an enabling environment without a cash support, so we are going to have a cash support, we cannot have a cash support relying on the government alone, there is going to be a kind of innovative way to be sponsored from the private sector, lobbying, and others to ensure that we have a type of school that we all wish.”

    Ale further note that he will not work on Jericho High School alone, but will collaborate with other schools and learn from their own way, copy and imitate good things from them.

    Babalola thanked Ale for his  donation, adding that it would prompt him to perform better.

    “I am able to be where I am today with the hekp of God, my parents and teachers who stood by me and discipline me when necessary. I will never disappoint you but will do more to achieve another feat,” he said

  • Ex-Ebonyi commissioner decries high WASSCE, NECO fees

    Ex-Ebonyi State Education Commissioner Mr. Ndubuisi Chibueze-Agbo has condemned increase in West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examination Council (NECO) fees.

    He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abakaliki the hike posed danger to the education sector.

    Chibueze-Agbo said the sudden increase in NECO and WASSCE fees from N5,500 and N5,350 in 2015 to N11,950 and N11,350 was outrageous.

    He said it could debar children from poor homes from sitting for the examinations.

    The former commissioner noted NECO was established in 2000 to break WAEC’s monopoly.

    “Before 2000, WAEC was the only examination body authorised by law to conduct Senior School Certificate Examination for internal and external candidates.

    “NECO was established in 2000 to provide alternative for Nigerians, break WAEC’s monopoly and prevent it from charging exorbitant fees.

    “But it’s regrettable that NECO has been championing hike in fees from 2001 to date,” he said.

    Chibueze-Agbo said in 2000, registration fee for WASSCE and NECO was N1,000, while candidates who sat for the examinations in 2001 paid N1,450 for WASSCE and N1,500 for NECO.

    He said fees for both examinations went up in 2002 to N1,800 for NECO and WASSCE N1,650.

    The ex-commissioner said there was another increment in 2003 that put NECO fee at N2,300, while WASSCE was registered for with N2,250.

    He said increment in the examination fees had been frequent in Nigeria, adding that the present fees were the highest in Africa.

    His words: “According to statistics, 80 per cent of prospective WASSCE and NECO candidates in Ebonyi State are yet to pay because of the high fees.

    “The situation poses threat to national security and development. It calls for an urgent action.”

    Chibueze-Agbo urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene.