Follow Us on Google
• As 1.6m candidates write WASSCE 2023
By Gabriel Dike
After six years of secondary education, 1.6million students on Monday, May 8, 2023, started sitting for the May/June 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), their final terminal exam.
The school exam, conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), would take place in 20, 853 approved secondary schools and supervised by 30,000 invigilators appointed by the state ministries of education.
Head of National Office (HNO), WAEC, Mr. Patrick Areghan, Areghan read the riot act to schools, students, parents and rogue website operators that the council was ready to wield the big stick. He disclosed the candidates from 20,851 secondary schools registered for the examination. He said 798,810 are males, representing 49.25 per cent while 823,043 are females, which is 50.75 per cent:
“The statistics showed there is a further increase and decrease in the number of females and males respectively, compared to the 2022 diet. The candidature increased by 13,868 over the figure of 2022 1,607,985.
“Candidates would be examined in 76 subjects, made up of 197 papers. About 30,000 practicing senior secondary schoolteachers, nominated by the various state ministries of education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors.
“Teachers in all the schools presenting candidates for the examination would serve as invigilators in their respective schools. Supervisors and invigilators for derecognised schools would be appointed from outside the schools, by the state ministries of education concerned.”
Issues on CASS
Areghan said: “The Continuous Assessment (CASS) score is a major component in the computation of grades for candidates in the school exam. The use of technology has made it possible for the council to provide platforms to enable schools upload, manage and access students CASS data seamlessly and make such data available to schools on request.
“The council allowed upload of CASS data in SS1, SS2 and SS3, designated as CASS Year 1, CASS Year II and CASS Year III at different upload periods. For each period of upload, the council opens its portal free of charge for schools and extends the period of upload from time to time to enable all schools upload. Schools that fail to upload within the expected time frame after several free upload periods, face possible penalties
“No school will have any result without complete CASS upload. “The council is facing a challenge in the implementation of the CASS policy due to the un-cooperative attitude of some schools.”
Defaulting schools to face sanction
“Schools where more than half of the candidates, who register and sit for examination, are involved in exam malpractice in two or more subjects are usually derecognised: “That means such schools are no longer qualified to be counted among ‘recognised schools’ for a period of two years.
“Such schools will no longer be allowed to present students for the school exam for two years in their schools. Though they will be allowed to register for the examination, they will take their candidates to other schools chosen and arranged for by the state Ministry of Education concerned.
“No single teacher from the schools would be nominated or appointed to serve as supervisor or invigilator in any school. During the examination, only the school principal and science subject teachers would be allowed to enter the examination hall (to maintain discipline) and science laboratories (to set the laboratories), respectively.
“All expenses for conducting the examination would be borne by the school. All erring teachers, principals and proprietors would be reported to the appropriate quarters for necessary disciplinary action.
“All schools currently under ‘derecognition’ and those that are currently ‘clean’ are warned to desist from any forms of examination malpractice to avoid a second ‘derecognition.’ Any school where gross acts of examination malpractice are perpetuated would have their recognition withdrawn.”
He appealed to parents and guardians to encourage their wards to study diligently and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractice.
He asked ministries of education to call their principals, teachers and officials serving as inspectors and/or supervisors to order.
Areghan advised supervisors to desist from allowing candidates use of their cell phones. He warned them to avoid writing answers on the chalkboard or dictating same to candidates: “Any form of aiding and abetting, collusion, should be avoided. School principals and teachers should sensitise their students on the dangers of this menace.
“Every candidate and examination functionary must play by the rules, which are well stipulated in the WAEC syllabus and guidelines for the conduct of examinations, issued to schools. Erring schools will be derecognised, erring officials would be adequately punished, while erring candidates would lose their results.
Miracle centres
“I wish to stress that existence ‘miracle centres’ is only in the imagination of their operators and patrons as WAEC has no such schools in its records, even though we know they exist. We are closely watching all suspected schools. However remotely located any school may be, it will not escape our radar as our in-built anti-malpractice mechanism will be deployed to catch them.
“I want to reiterate that it is left for candidates to choose between something or nothing; having their results or the risk of not having their results and wasting the entire six years they spent in school; and for schools having their results or facing the risk of not having their results and being derecognised.
Rouge website operators
“Let me warn operators of rouge-websites that WAEC will not condone their heinous acts. Parents should desist from patronising these evildoers who are hell-bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC and destroying the destiny of their children.
“They should have nothing to do with them as that would only lead to the truncation of their children’s future. Meanwhile, we are perfecting strategies, as usual, with all relevant agencies to checkmate these fraudsters and bring them and their patronisers to book. There will be no hiding place for them.
“The road has been bumpy, but we are cruising on. All hands are on deck to ensure that the WASSCE for school candidates 2023 is hitch-free. Non-adherence to registration deadline is still a lingering challenge in preparation for examinations. Even though entries were floated on October 10, 2022 and billed to end on March 27, 2023, we could not actually close entries until April 15, 2023 due to pressures from different stakeholders.
“Even when printing of pre-examination, examination and post examination materials have progressed significantly and are being distributed to states, some schools are still asking for permission to upload entries.
“Let it be re-iterated that entries for all WAEC examinations are not open-ended, just like other endeavours. There is a time to start and a time to end. Delay in meeting registration deadlines puts all examining bodies under pressure and WAEC is not an exception.
“All schools should stick to registration deadlines to make preparations for examinations seamless and release of results possible within set dates. We are working hand-in-hand with the Federal Ministry of Education, state education ministries, police, other security agencies and other stakeholders, to deliver a credible examination.”
The results of the seven-week examination would be released 45 days after the conduct of the last paper.
