As the mother of one adolescent and two teenage children, and who is deeply intentional about properly parenting them, I have over time seriously sought to make teenagers my friends, especially the girls. One of my adorable three is a lovely girl. Yes oo, she is.
I have come to Oluomachi, Precious, Opemipo, Adaeze, Esther, Tobi and Aisha. A key purpose of the new relationship is to impart a positive mindset in them and help strengthen the character and improve the lifestyle of these GenZ kids. At times, we agree and most times, we disagree on several issues.
The ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) being conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), somehow became one such area of disagreement between me and my GenZ friends. I am glad that our friendship has developed to the point where we can have strong differences in opinions with no hair being raised; rather we trust each other enough to discuss anything under the sun. First, I started by asking why most of them were not serious with their studies looking at the rate of failure in the last UTME (Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination), where a whopping 77% scored 200 and below.
Honestly, what they said about both external exams (WASSCE and UTME) left me in shock. From our discussion, it seemed the fear that comes with these examinations has gone with the wind. I have tried to ask about the extent of their preparation towards these exams, hours dedicated to studies, how many past question papers they have solved as a group, if they could even be disciplined enough to drop their Android phones and be serious with their lives. I was not convinced. But then, my shock is that when they come out of the examination halls, they are all in a jubilant mood. In our days, anyone who felt he or she did not do well came home mournfully and would not have the appetite for food.
One then asks why there is so much happiness after each examination? Why are the present students so sure that they would come out in flying colours, because my instinct has told me that writing WASSCE should be the most dreaded milestone in the life of an adolescent student.
Remarkably, only God knows what has happened to examination fever, fear and tension. How come WAEC’s WASSCE now looks so easy, simple and cheap to the young ones. What you see now are happy students making merry at the moment because manna will continue to fall from heaven. I ask, who introduced this manna that is yearly falling from heaven? This manna has become the source of hope for the GenZ children, who naturally are so lazy on their own. This manna which is also known as logistics, dubs, chips, runs and symbols have dominated the precious mind and space of these young ones. My young friends confided in me that most of them obtain the manna a few days before the D-day and a certain number prepare fully for the examination.
Now, all sledgehammers must not fall on the heads of the students for this, though they have a fair portion of blame as unserious individuals. However, I was told that the practice of receiving manna has become a recurring pattern where many are involved. The trail of corruption starts from websites where examination question papers leak. Instead of students reading their books, they depend on such websites. When accurate question papers are released online, they get hold of it, then go home, solve it comfortably and be sure. Some silly ones walk into the exam hall with it, while the smart cats solve and keep the answers in their brain for their use in the hall. Who are the people behind all these irregularities? How can a country move forward with this level of criminality? When a greater number of students who should be the leaders of tomorrow are sincerely hoping to pass their external examinations with cheating, what will the future be? Who would they lead and in which direction? Students are not the ones who created such websites and feed them with correct question papers that would leak hours to the particular examination. No, no, no. Their offence is the failure to read, preparing, exchanging ideas, leaning on the stronger students to teach and revise together with them. They rather stay glued to their Android phones waiting for the next ready meal while mingling around, pressing phones and chatting with friends.
The dirt, corrupt hands of some school proprietors, administrators and stakeholders, are involved in this malady. Granted, not all schools have sank into this rot, but a good number of them are stained like blood. Those private school heads who ask students to pay for expo, you are not doing them good. A student I encountered in a commercial vehicle told me that his Principal asked him to pay expo money, he refused, got home and reported to his father who matched to school the next morning to reprimand the principal. The Principal’s answer was ‘even the best brains fail WAEC, so do not think your son is a professor’. This payment is exclusively outside the school fees and other necessary fees paid in schools. Compulsory subjects like English and Mathematics attract a fee of N10,000 to N15,000 per student while all science subjects cost N5,000. Arts, commercial and trade subjects cost N3,000 per student. Students whose parents might refuse, might be rescued by their classmates who are more buoyant in Betnaija and Yahoo and life continues. Parents who boldly pay for their children to be part of cheating, you are gradually digging your grave, because you have removed healthy educational competition from your children. Should we all agree that gone are the days when students sweat it out within the two weeks scheduled for external examinations like WASSCE, GCE, SSCE (by NECO), BECE and UTME? Should we take it that what themy young friends said has become the order of the day? I weep for my people. What has happened to healthy competition in examinations? What has happened to vigorous dynamic academic comparisons. Whoever threw away secondary school quiz competitions, mock examinations, revisions and good old diligent study and burning of the midnight candles, has done our country great damage. Please restore them to end the era of manna from unknown sources.
Terrifying is the fact that on examination days, it has been alleged that schools which are expo-merchants who would allocate teachers to various positions. Some would man the gate to alert the fraudsters when external examiners are coming. Some would solve the answers on the blackboard while the students copy and write as if they are in a normal classroom. Some would solve the questions and distribute to students who cannot catch up with the blackboard that is far. Does this not cause goose pimples? I heard of a teacher who would openly say to students if you know you paid, be on this row, if you did not pay, move to this corner. He does his with impunity while holding the brown, sealed envelope marked ‘WAEC ‘
A teacher, trainer, role model would instruct students to take positions according to the amount of manna money they paid. The students acted accordingly and in less than 30 minutes into the examination, there was tumult in the hall. The principal encouraged them to sit together so as to prevent them from being branded as an expo center. With that, peace reigned and all were happy. All these are to attract new students the following year. Such schools do not go for competitions but they are known as schools that pass WAEC very well.
What about students who walk into examination halls with textbooks, notebooks and copied materials while authorities, supervisors and teachers look the other way? I recall the days Dr. Mrs. Oluyinka Esan and Dr. Nosa Owens Ibie. These were two lecturers we encountered in the early 90 in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos. Both always stood out till date. Dr. Esan would warn us ahead in the Amphitheater to respect ourselves. All of us who knew the stuff she was made of, would conduct ourselves appropriately. Esan would singlehandedly supervise over three hundred students in a hall with pin-drop silence until the last student submits his or her answer script. Those who heard about the antecedents of Owens-Ibie would show proper conduct in the exam hall. If either of them caught a student cheating during an examination, the culprit would repeat that year. It was that simple. That was the standard then. So, I ask, are there still teachers like Oluyinka Esan and Owens-Ibie in the educational system from the universities to the lowest level?
Sometime ago, I read in the Sun Newspaper where Pastor Wale Adefarasin said that when he was writing the WASC(as it was known then – West African School Certificate) examination, his father called and warned that if he ever cheated in his examination, he would disown him. Are there still parents like Justice Adefarasin today? Examination malpractice appears to have become a norm.
Dear Nigerians, which way do we go? Most corrupt leaders are products of this type of system. As I round off the piece, my mind recalls the popular song, Which Way Nigeria, by the legendary musician, Sunny Okosun, of blessed memory.