WAEC commended for providing facilities for blind students

WAEC

The Nigeria Examinations Council (NEC) Committee has commended the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for providing braille facilities for blind students during the 2016 May/June WASSCE examination.

The commendation is contained in a communique issued at the end of the NEC’s 62nd meeting which held from Nov. 8 to Nov. 10 in Lagos.

A copy of the communiqué was made available by Mr Damianus Ojijeogu, Head of Public Affairs of the WAEC, on Monday in Lagos.

NAN reports that the committee – the highest decision-making organ of WAEC on examination-related matters in Nigeria – meets twice a year.

During such meeting, the NEC considers matters relating to the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates and private candidates.

According to the communiqué, the committee was equally happy with the council for facilitating easy reading for the albino candidates in bold prints.

It commended the examination body for providing additional supervisors to read the questions for dumb candidates at designated centres.

“We also want to commend the council for deploying a technology that can stop candidates previously barred for reasons of malpractice from registration for its examinations for a stated period.

“We congratulate the council for these developments and also urge it to sustain the feat,’’ the communiqué read in part.

The NEC stated that it received the report on irregularity as well as special and clemency cases arising from the conduct of its 2015 November/December diet of its examination, which was considered at the 61st meeting.

“The committee also considered report on the conduct of the 2016 WASSCE for school candidates and irregularity cases arising from the conduct of the examination.

“In considering various reported cases of malpractice, the committee approved appropriate sanctions in all established cases, after diligent deliberations.

“The committee also approved that the entire results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Entire Results (CER), be cancelled.

“Similarly, results of those involved in proven cases, which attract CSR (Cancellation of Subject Results), should also be cancelled,’’ it said.

The meeting resolved that in addition, some candidates would also suffer other sanctions such as barring them from sitting for the council’s examinations for a certain number of years.

Similarly it resolved that some schools that aided malpractices during such examinations should be derecognised and their Principals reported to the Federal Ministry of Education for disciplinary action.

According to the communiqué, erring supervisors will be blacklisted while the decisions of the committee will be implemented without delay.

The affected candidates and schools would be duly informed by the council, while results of candidates, who were exonerated by the committee, will be released.

The committee also considered various shortcomings of candidates as reported by the Chief Examiners.

It noted that government at all levels should train and retrain teachers through workshops and seminars to keep them abreast of global best practices in teaching various subjects.

It also resolved that candidates should be exposed to more practical activities and that teachers should make use of the feedback provided by WAEC to prepare candidates adequately for its examinations.

The committee resolved to take stringent measures against high incidence of schools writing on the chalkboards for their students to copy during the May/June examination.

“If a school is warned for cheating, aiding and abetting three times within five years, it should be de-recognised.

“Already, the committee had withdrawn the recognition of two schools for assaulting a supervisor,’’ the communiqué read in part.