2013

MassFailureinWAEC: Letscallaspadea spade...

Areflectiononthereasonsforthemass failureofcandidatesintheWestAfrican ExaminationsCouncil(WAEC)examinationsin Nigeria
Inrecenttimesthemassiveandconsistentfailureofstudentswhosatforthe WestAfricanExaminationsCouncil(WAEC)examinationshasdrawntheireof students,parents,publicanalystsandevengovernmentagencies.Blamesand counterblameshavebeentradedonallsidesinordertoexplainthereasonsfor themassfailurewhichhasenormousimplicationsfortheadmissabilityofthe studentsintotertiaryisntitutionsandpsychologicalstabilityofitsvictims,since thefailurehadalwaysbeeninthecoresubjectsofEnglishlanguageand Mathematics.Thesubmissionisthatthegovernmentandschoolsshouldbearthe blamelargelybutthatWAECmustalsoexaminethewayithasbeenruningthe showinitsentirety.

Dr.UmaruAhmadu DepartmentofPhysics,FederalUniversityofTechnology,Minna,Nigeria u.ahmadu@yahoo.com WAECandmassfailureinNigeriav1.0.15.2013. Page1 / /

More than anytime time before, the activities of WAEC has attracted a sustained barrage of attacks from the public in

recent years. This was borne out of the mass failure of students who sit for the May/June and November/December, SSCE

examinations and particularly following the the release of the recent November/December WASSCE result. The result shows that out of 406,108 candidates who sat for the examinations

62.3%(262,651) failed to score five credits, including English language/Mathematics(Dailytrust, only 37.97% obtained credits 22nd in December,2012). five subjects, That is

including

English/Mathematics.The same publication showed that in 2010 and 2011, 24.16 and 36.07%, respectively, had five of credits, these for

inclduing

Englsih

/Mathematics.The

implication

qualification for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions, apart from the pyschological trauma it imposes on the hundreds of thousands of candidates who had consistently failed and subsequently been denied admissions for years cannot be fathomed but better imagined.Thus the necessity to look

seriously into this issue and profer solutions to policy makers and educators. The public, students and unfortunately, even the media, have apportioned blame on WAEC. While i do not intend to paint WAEC white or speak on its behalf, I shall attempt to enlighten the

public about the matter from my experience with WAEC in order to enable the public make informed analysis and take appropriate decisions as regards the culpability of WAEC or otherwise and to unmask the true problems causing failure. I must add that i am a 1985 candidate of WAEC examinations-the worst result in 44 years, as reported then in the newspapers! Moreover, i have been teaching and therefore in a position to assess the students.I felt disgusted with what people or

government write or say about WAEC and regret that WAEC itself could not make any clarifications about the uncomplimentary

views held by the public about it.Perhaps, i may not have been fortunate to read or listen to such reactions, so i was

impelled to write. Such reactions,i believe, would have directed the blame appropriately and stimulated the relevant stakeholders to take necessary corrective measures that will improve the

situation. From the brief survey i made about this writeup the general reasons or charges often adduced by students and the general public for mass failure, include but not limited to the perceptions that WAEC: 1. Examinations are tougher now than in previous years or that they are too difficult for the level of students ability. 2. Marking schemes are too strict in terms of their

requirements to enable students pass easily.

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3. Examiners are careless in their marking and handling of scripts. 4. Collation and co-ordination process is fraught with errors due to its gigantic nature; 5. Students do not have the necessary preparation to enable them effectively write the examination; 6. There are and no relevant teaching materials, qualified for

teachers

conducive

teaching/learning

environment

the students. Reasons 1 4 can be classified as problems relating to WAEC, while 5 - 6 are institutional. As I have maintained earlier, Im writing based on my experience with WAEC a product of its examinations. First,to say that WAEC examinations has become tougher or too difficult for the students is far from the truth. All that is needed is to check past WAEC question papers for a five-year period, 1985 backwards, and say 2010 backwards and analysize the difficulty levels.However, we must define what we mean by level of difficulty in this context.Further, there have been reports that some students write nothing on their answer scripts and instead copy the questions asked verbatim, where they do at all. In a typical centre about 40-50% of the scripts may have this character, it has been asserted. This certainly cannot be due to
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and the fact that i am

WAEC but to failure of their respective schools to complete the relevant syllabus, which is reviewed periodically as occasion demands. Students and the school authorities are expected to purchase these syllabi for their guidance. As for the schools, they are expected to fine-tune their curricula to reflect the scope of WAEC syllabus and the necessary teaching aids and

methods. The truth is

that many students study their normal

school work in preparation for WAEC, they do not care, or may not even be aware of its existence. The questions set by WAEC are within the purview of the provision of its syllabus. Schools are expected to buy past WAEC question papers, even prospective candidates questions, need but to this get a hint about the structure going of the past

rarely

happens.Merely

through

questions will tell you that there had been a watering down of the level of difficulty of the questions and the variants, so the issue can neither be that the questions are tough nor that they are outside the content of the WAEC syllabus. By difficulty here, I mean that the questions are not trickish; and they at are most

direct,

requiring

simple

listing,

recall

explanation. Rarely evaluation and synthesis. The WAEC marking schemes have also been mellowed down to accommodate most of the kinds of typical answers that students may provide. It is only in rare circumstances that students fall

out of the marking scheme. This means that the marking schemes are very flexible comparatively. Speaking of the previous years, we should also not lose sight of the fact that marking schemes are changed on in terms of degree is of difficulty most periodically and

depending

performance.This

the

strategic

trickiest part of the WAEC examination which is the duty of the schools to acquaint their students on how to answer WAEC

questions as distinct from answering normal classroom work or examinations. During the final year of our school days our

teachers, mostly Indians, used to teach us how to answer WAEC questions and even adopted the marking and scoring conventiosn of WAEC during our Mock examinations(which is no longer

practised by most schools these days), so that by the time we were writing the examinations,we were already familiar with how to present our answers. There used to be Mock Examinaitions during which we answer past WAEC questions for tests and

examination and we are graded accordingly. The fact is, most schools do not make detailed preparations, rather involve

themselves with all sorts of cheating tactics and proliferate miracle centres. They do not have the teachers who know how to teach the students to answer WAEC questions. Thus you find during marking sessions that many students, although they may know a subject, do not know how to present it according to the prescribed marking scheme.Many students fail WAEC because they
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do not know how to present their

answers according to WAEC

conventions wheareas WAEC must maintain adherence to standard marking therefore necessary schemes lies for with in objectivity the the schools and that of uniformity. do not The provide fault the

training

technique

answering

questions,

which must be distinguished from the traditional methods used in normal class sessions. In federal government colleges, command schools and some good public schools, such training is usually provided leading to higher number of passes and grades. It is the duty of schools to acquire samples of past WAEC marking schemes to train teachers and students on. It is also my belief that if WAEC really wants students to pass, they should organize a workshop for school teachers to train them on how they want the students to answer WAEC questions, this is very necessary and expedient under the circumstances. On the third point, examiners are not the alpha and omega with regards to marking. First they are trained on how to mark using the marking schemes rigourously during the national

marking excercise. Two, the progress of their marking is being progressively monitored by a team leader, who had previously been trained also, and who may order remarking at any point he felt dissatisfied. For an examiner that has been consistently too generous or too mean, he may be blacklisted altogether. The

mark allocations and transfer are further checked before they are eventually entered in a computer sheet (used to be OMR). The security of the documents is considered as far as humanly

possible. The point however, is that it is ensured that students get the marks that they deserve, and that this is reflected in their overall result.The gist is that every necessary precaution is taken to ensure students are fairly treated, even giving them the benefit of doubt during scoring! I however, agree that someone over there might bungle with the results over the computer to produce garbage, once in a while: in the form of withheld results, cancelled, misplaced or

missing, etc. However, this should normally account for a small percentage, an exception. Remember, the issue is mass failure, which results bungling is a that case of confirmed, be consistent and co-ordinated to someone due to

cannot The

justifiably is that

attributted human explain

things.

point

error mass

carelessness consistently!

about

marking

cannot

failure

The last of the series of problems which could be due to WAEC is allied to the above. This is not a place to discuss the machinery for collation and coordination of WAEC examinations, though i am not qualified to do so even if i so wished. However, to the best of my knowledge, and this is believed by many of
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the old school, by which i meant those who sat for WAEC prepared examinations when it was a monopoly, it is one of the most effective, organized and trusted examination bodies yet in the country. I accept that there are cases of leakage of WAEC questions ironically now nor and then, yet it could not in stop the mass failure and

blunt

the

public

trust

quality

confidence reposed in its certificates! The last question to ask about WAEC is a bit philosophical: could WAEC deliberately fail its candidates? Could it be

government sponsored in order to reduce students intake into our tertiary thereby institutions controlling (conspiracy graduate theory as The being answer peddled), is no

output?

emphatically!This is because government itself is not happy as it has broken the WAEC monopoly, by establishing a paprallel body (Natioanal Examinations Council)NECO.This is an outright negation of this suggestion. Any other analysis is untenable and will only point to what had happened some years back: WAEC had been steadily losing its student clientale who sit for its

examinations and facing more public hatred and anger, however, over the years the numbers have climbed again, almost a par with NECO. A testimony to the fact that the principles upon which WAEC had been working are right. Therefore, we conclude that within the limits of its ability WAEC has tried to be objective

and considerate in all its activities. WAEC is not responsible, as far as the most basic indices are concerned, for the mass failure of students, due to any of the perceptions identfied earlier. Nevertheless, WAEC must be blamed for maintaining a policy of silence in the course of all the accusations and not coming out clear to explain to the public how it runs its activities to ensure that students get what they deserve and that they are treated justly. This would have helped her cause greatly, rather than keeping a tight lip. For the school or institutional problems, first let us look

graphically at the environmental conditions under which most of the students who write WAEC live: where the schools are

boarding,students are fed on food hardly eatable by animals, if at all they are fed; they sleep in makeshift beds using brick blocks or stones ; they sit down on the floor or on brick blocks in their classes, those who are lucky, on window sills; they may have no water in the school unless they travel out; in most of the schools, to there is no funtional textbooks; ratio may library, there be one nor could no they

afford

buy

relevant teacher

are

adequate to 100

teachers:

student

teacher

students or more in many cases.This is not to talk of many unqualified teachers. As for the
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school,

there

might

be

no

teaching

aids;

science

equipment

(in

the

case

of

science

students); chalk and writing materials may not be available. Most secondary school teachers (senior) are taught by NCE

holders (though it is against the rule) and generally, may not be teaching the courses in which they specialized due to dearth of teachers, and are generally overloaded, one teacher taking many classes or subjects.One can easily analyze the magnitude of the situation and fathom the degree of the problem which causes regular strikes by teachers due to low morale as a result of poor welfare. What kind of result should one expect from these students when they sit for WAEC? They are totally not prepared psychologically,emotionally, interlectually and physically. Compare and contrast these problems with the way the old school schooled, if you are about 40 years and above today; free, qualitative and adequate textbooks, decent classrooms with tables and seats, fully lit classrooms and dormitories, adequate diet, with three square meals a day (and a provsion for moreshould you so desire), qualified teachers, more than enough and well-equipped libraries and laboratories, etc. On top of all these, some of us, such as the writer, even enjoyed the payment of journey money to and from your home to school! Look at the stark and inhuman condition under which these students are

studying! These students are supposed to refuse writing the WAEC

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examination

on

account

of

ill-preparedness

of

their

schools

until such a time the school provided the requisite conducive environment, having paid the regsitration fees for examination.I completely and absolutely exonerate the students for their

failure under the circumstances and instead blame the schools and the government for the failure to provide the appropriate and necessary environment for fruitful and conducive learning. It is the failure of government, at the state or federal levels, to provide the conducive learning environment to prepare the students for almighty WAEC that causes mass failure, and not

WAEC or students. Some analysts have even insinuated that government shirked its responsibility learning of and providing instead necessary put the environment on WAEC for and

productive

blame

created NECO.Even so,the situation has remained disappointingnly the same,as NECO ultimately arrived at the same point,recording mass failures of in recent many examinations, as despite in the its early first

largesse

passes,

happened

examination, at least that was the way it was perceived... The solutions which the principals and their students

adopted, instead, was to shy away from the truth and involve themselves in all forms of racketeering in collusion with

members of the immediate community and some even accuse WAEC

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supervisors miracle

of

collusion, by

inculcating among

the other

patronage iniquities,

of in

centres

students,

order to secure high grades. Government should wake up to its responsibility of providing functional education and the

necessary facilities. The public should ask itself why private, command and similar schools do better in the same WAEC that was failed massively by public school students; do not ask me about conspiracy theories here too! Let us call a spade a spade... It is good thing to have many external examining bodies, even private ones, but there must be standards and organization for the reputation of our certificates, and that they should truly reflect performance. Finally, WAEC must be blamed for being very mean when it comes to the reward of its examiners, an amount that is shameful to be printed on these pages. Why would WAEC, for instance, not be able to give decent hotel accomodation, or book a conference centre for the marking excercise, including feeding of

examiners? What with all the high fees paid by the students? These sort of unrealistic, has and no out-of-tune-with-time affected composure the level by and of its

conservative

attitude psyche

doubt

committment,the

necessary

needed

examiners and does not motivate them to put in their best in order to obtain the desired results. Government has been

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increasing salaries and allowances of workers over the years but WAEC remains it defiant,deaf and immune its to these changes, even WAEC

though

periodically

reviews

fees

upward!Further,

needs to undertake a review

process in conjunction with the

schools after every examination in order to assess and explain grey areas so as to harmonise issues arising from it. We must

not lose sight of the fact that WAEC has more than sixty (60) years experience of preparing and handling examinations within the West African sunregion which must not be thrown to the

winds.

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