2011 WAEC: Why Students Perform Poorly

By Uchechukwu Nnaike

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed the poor performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other external examinations in the country to shallow knowledge of the subject matter, disregard for rubrics and incorrect interpretation of questions.

Other causes of mass failure, it said, included, poor command of the English Language, lack of Mathematics/manipulative skills, poor knowledge of examination techniques, illegible handwriting, spelling errors, among others.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the 52nd meeting of its Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) in Lagos recently, the council said these weaknesses were part of the observations contained in the Chief Examiners’ Report on the May/June 2011 WASSCE.

To enhance candidates’ performance in future examinations, it recommended that: Candidates should read the questions and the rubrics carefully so as to understand the requirements of each question; candidates should learn the basic rudiments of the English Language for better and clearer presentation of their answers; they should procure and thoroughly study the prescribed texts in Literature-in- English,

Arabic and the Nigerian Languages.
According to the report, governments and private owners of schools should employ qualified hands to teach various subjects; special attention should be given to training of candidates on legible handwriting to ensure clear conveyance of answers to examiners, who would mark the scripts; unnecessary preambles should be avoided while answering questions and presentations of answers should be as concise as possible.

Addressing newsmen, the NEC Chairman, Chief Adeniyi Falade said an important mandate of the committee during its meetings was to consider all cases of malpractice reported to it by the Nigerian National Office of the council and take appropriate decisions in line with the policies of the council, as well as the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the examinations.

“At the just concluded 52nd meeting, the committee considered malpractice cases involving 81,573    candidates who sat the May/June 2011 WASSCE in Nigeria, and whose results were withheld, based on reports of their alleged involvement in malpractice. After thorough consideration of all the reported cases, the committee endorsed appropriate sanctions prescribed by the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the examination. Where applicable, it endorsed the cancellation of the entire results of candidates involved in cases, which attract such penalty, and the cancellation of subject results of those involved in cases which attract such penalty.”

He said the committee also directed the council to, henceforth, compile a ‘blacklist’ of supervisors and invigilators who are indicted for any misdemeanour, just as the council does for examiners. He said such persons would not be allowed to participate in any WAEC-related assignment anywhere in the country future.

The committee expressed concern over the large number of candidates that some schools present for examinations and called on ministries of education and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to monitor the activities of both public and private secondary schools, particularly during and after registration of candidates for WASSCE.

It also urged the government and various agencies charged with the development of education in the country to address the issues of infrastructure deficit in schools and the need to provide conducive atmosphere for proper teaching and learning.

CULLED FROM http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/waec-why-students-perform-poorly/103924/

FG backs post-UTME - No Scrapping Of Anything

Written by Clement Idoko, Abuja Wednesday, 30 November 2011

THE Federal Government has laid to rest the controversy bet-ween the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and univer-sities in the country over the conduct of post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exa-mination (UTME).
It has, therefore, approved the parallel conduct of UTME by JAMB and post-UTME by universities and other tertiary institutions, in line with the universities’ autonomy.
Specifically, the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, on Tuesday, said the conduct of UTME by JAMB and the post-UTME being conducted by the tertiary institutions in the country were within the statutory mandate of each body and should not be compromised.
The minister said this while inaugurating the multi-million naira JAMB Test Development Depart-ment complex at Bwari, Abuja.

She said there was no basis for squabbles bet-ween JAMB and tertiary institutions over the conduct of post-UTME, saying that both had legal backing in the process of selection of best candidates into tertiary institutions.
But the National Asso-ciation of Nigerian Stu-dents (NANS) has accused the Federal Government of double standard over its position on conduct of the post-UTME by universities.
NANS president, Dauda Mohammed, described the decision of the government to allow for conduct of post-UTME without putting in place corres-ponding mechanism to check the arbitrary post-UTME charges and extortion of candidates by various institutions as unrealistic.

The Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor ‘Dibu Ojerinde, fielding questions from newsmen after the inauguration, said JAMB was not totally against the conduct of post-UTME, but insisted that it must be standardised and streamlined.

Exams malpractices: WAEC to compile names of supervisors, invigilators involved

Written by Kunle Awosiyan, Lagos Monday, 28 November 2011

The Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) has directed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to compile a “blacklist” of supervisors and invigilators who were indicted in examination malpractices.
NEC, which is the highest policy making body for WAEC, gave the directive after its 52nd meeting at Excellence Hotel, in Lagos, at the weekend.
In a swift reaction, the Head of National Office of WAEC, Dr Iyi Uwadiae, said that the council would implement all the instructions given to it by the committee, saying that it would soon post the names of the schools concerned on the council’s website.
In a communiqué presented by the President of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, (ANCOPPS), Chief Adeniyi Falade, on behalf of the chairman of the committee, Mrs Mabel Ozumba, NEC urged WAEC to do so in order to ensure that such persons do not participate in any activity of the council anymore.
The committee, which investigated 81,573 cases of examination malpractices of the candidates who wrote the May/June 2011 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), directed the council to derecognise over 1,000 schools that had been involved in malpractices across the country.
The committee called on state ministries of education and the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja, to exercise caution in recommending schools as examination centres for WAEC, while also decrying the huge number of candidates being presented by schools for examinations.

CULLED FROM http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/31920--exams-malpractices-waec-to-compile-names-of-supervisors-invigilators-involved