The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has called on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to step up efforts in tackling the menace of examination malpractice in the country.
Adamu made the call at the formal opening of the 70th annual council meeting of the examination body on Tuesday in Abuja.
According him, the endemic phenomenon has continued to pervade all sectors of the country’s educational system.
The minister, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, noted that there was a strong need for WAEC to make concerted efforts to stem the ugly trend.
“I want to make a strong appeal to not only the council, but to all stakeholders to embark on concerted efforts to tackle this ugly trend.
“I want to urge management of the council not to rest on its oars in evolving strategies and initiatives that will check the ever increasing menace of examination malpractice in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE),” he said.
He, however, noted that in spite of all the myriads of societal challenges plaguing the country’s education sector, WAEC had remained a symbol of success in the conduct of quality public examinations, whose certificate had continued to enjoy global acceptability.
The minister added that the council had also continued to be a shining symbol and effective player in regional cooperation among English speaking countries of the sub region.
“| urge the council to continue to embark on innovations that would enhance the quality of its service delivery to its candidates and other stakeholders, which the council was established to serve.
“The decision of the council to hold this important meeting in Abuja is a confirmation of the Buhari’s administration’s resolve, to make education the bedrock of the country’s development.
“Hence it is leaving no stone unturned to provide not only qualitative but affordable education to our people.
“Consequently, efforts have been geared toward providing infrastructural facilities and teaching aids that will support learning within the limited available resources.
“May I also say that the present administration has intensified effort in recruiting qualified teachers as well as ensure their training and retraining, to create a more conducive and enabling learning environment,” the minister said.
Adamu then assured the council of Federal Government’s resolve to support any initiative it would embark upon aimed at improving its services and maintaining the quality and credibility of its examination.
He expressed delight on WAEC’s continual ability in taking advantage of developments in Information and Comununication Technology ( ICT) to ease its examination related operations.
The minister cited council’s electronic registration platform for both the school and private candidates examinations, as well as hosting of result as a giant stride in the right direction.
“I am also aware that your results are being released ahead of schedule and certificates are now printed within 45 days of the release of results. These are, indeed, landmark achievements and giant steps in the right direction,” he stated.
He lauded the students who distinguished themselves in the council’s 2021 WASSCE for school candidates for their remarkable performance.
According to him, the performance has earned them the well-deserved International Excellence Awards and Nigerian National Distinction Merit Awards.
He said that the award should be a challenge to all students in secondary schools across the country and should serves as a strong motivation to be dedicated to their studies.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Council, Prof. Ato Essuman, noted that examination malpractices in public examinations had remained a huge source of worry to the council.
According to him, there is an urgent need for all stakeholders, as well as other sister examination bodies to come together to salvage the situation.
He, however, expressed relief that examination agencies were beginning to come in to confront the issue.
“Inappropriate behaviours like cheating, bribery of results, collaboration of teachers and deployment of other means of technologies is a growing concern.
“The earlier we begin to eradicate this, the better for us. Examination bodies should not be left alone to fight this menace because we can’t.
“It has been revealed that some candidates use sophisticated gadgets concealed in glasses to obtain external assistance during examinations.
“To eradicate this requires collaboration of members government, with active support from member councils to address the ugly trend,” he said.
According to him, the education system must strive to focus on moral education, love for country and issues of integrity.
He added that this would go a long way in changing the mindsets and bring about attitudinal change among the entire system.
The Registrar to council, Mr Pateh Bar, who joined the ceremony virtually, noted that Nigeria had provided strength and stability to the entire WAEC and had been playing her role in the sustenance of the council.
According to him, additional finance is required to support the operations of council and therefore enjoined governments of member countries to assist.
Highlight of the event was the conferment of Distinguished Friend of Council award to Emeritus Prof. PAI Obayan.
Obayan, a one time council chairman, was given the award for his relentless efforts in more than half century of his life, to the educational development of not only the Nigerian child, but the African child at large.
Obayan was described as a ‘die hard’ academic and the grand sage of Education in Africa.
Another recipient of the award was Prof. Alex Mowete, of the Dept of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering, University of Lagos, for his selfless commitment to the development of the Nigerian child and the council.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Obayan emphasised the need to key into modern technology in a bid to drive the education sector effectively.
“We must all do what we can to be inline, so that we can be online. It is only through thismthat we can measure up with modern trends and global best practices,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Miss Isabela Nweze, a former student of the Lagoon School in Lekki, Lagos, emerged the overall best student for the 2021 WASSCE for school candidates.
She made an all A1s and obtained a total score of 606.8766 in her eight best subjects, including General Mathematics and English Language.
She was then conferred with the National Distinction/Merit award for WASSCE for school candidates 2021.
Godswill Edeani, a former student of Air Force Comprehensive School, Agbani in Enugu and Pascal Unini, who graduated from Christ the King College, Gwagwalada in Abuja, were second and third place winners, respectively. (NAN)
