• Some Schools To Be Derecognized
• Some Candidates To Be Barred
• Cancels Entire Results Of Some Offenders
By Okee Sydney-Obiukwu & Hanson Chidozie
The National Examinations Committee (NEC) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) which is the highest decision-making organ of WAEC on examination-related matters, in Nigeria, rose from its 64th meeting recently held at the Excellence Hotel, in Lagos, approving far-reaching sanctions against examinations malpractice offenders, among other vital decisions.
The committee which meets twice a year, to consider matters relating to the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates and private candidates, approved that the entire results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract cancellation of Entire Results (CER) be cancelled, while subject results of those involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Subject Results (CSR) should be cancelled also.
Similarly, some candidates will suffer other sanctions such as barring them from sitting for the council’s examinations for a certain number of years, while some schools will have their WAEC recognition withdrawn or derecognized for a specified number of years.
According to a communiqué issued by the Acting Head, Public Affairs, of WAEC’s national office in Nigeria, Mr. Demianus G. Ojijeogu, “ during the 64th meeting, the committee received a report on irregularity, special and clemency cases arising from the conduct of the WASSCE for private candidates, 2016; earlier considered at the 63rd meeting of the committee. The committee also considered a report on the conduct of the WASSCE for school candidates, 2017, as well as irregularity cases arising from the conduct of the examination.
“Furthermore, the Committee considered special cases, clemency cases, restitution cases and referred cases for further investigation from previous examinations. The committee also received a report on the statistics of entries and results for the WASSCE for private candidates, 2016. In addition, it received and considered the general résumé of the Chief Examiners’ reports on the WASSCE for school candidates, 2017. It also received and considered reports on the activities of the Aptitude Tests Department (ATD), for the period March to September, 2017 and on the activities of the research department of the council for the period March to October, 2017. “
The communiqué went on to state that the committee noted the observation by the Chief Examiners that the standard of the examination papers compared favorably with those of previous years, and that they also reported that the questions were within the scope of the syllabuses and capability of the students.
The recurring cases of returned certificates, where candidates willingly made confessional statements to the effect that they were impersonated in various examinations, were also considered, and it was agreed that details of such candidates ( ie: examination numbers, certificate numbers and years of examination) should be made available to the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE). Same information should also be posted on the council’s corporate website and published in national dailies twice a year, according to the official statement.
The statement said the committee expressed delight with WAEC for liaising with the ministries of education in the states of the federation, to identify and carry out disciplinary actions against supervisors and invigilators, who aided examination malpractice during the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2017.
On the worrisome issue of ‘rogue websites,’ which candidates use to source examination questions and many more resources, the release stated that, “ the committee commended the efforts made by the council in Nigeria that led to the arrest and parading of six suspects by security agents and called on WAEC to intensify efforts against the operators of the ‘rogue websites.’
“The Committee also observed that cases of insults/assaults on examination officials by candidates in WAEC examinations have reduced and attributed the trend to the efficacy of the penalty (cancellation of candidates’ entire results) which serves as a deterrent for offenders.”
The committee is composed of a statutory chairman, who is the chief federal government nominee. While other members are drawn from state ministries of education, which nominates four representatives each and the department of education of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja,
Other members are ANCOPSS, the Universities, the Registrar to Council, the Head of the Nigeria National Office, the Head of the Test Development Division (TDD) and the Head of the Test Administration Division (TAD) of the Council.