Although the overall performance leaves more to be desired, statistics of the recently released May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) by West African Examination Council (WAEC) still put Nigeria ahead of other countries, especially Ghana.
Of the 1,672,224 candidates who sat for this year’s May/June WASSCE in Nigeria, only
649,156 (38.81 per cent) obtained credit in five subjects, including English and Mathematics, a 37.27 per cent increase over 2011’s result.
Out of the 7,847 candidates from 66 senior secondary schools that registered for 32 subjects in the 2012 WASSCE, only 394 (5.02%) obtained credit passes in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.
In Ghana, 324,998 candidates registered for the examination while 62,295 candidates, representing 20.04%, obtained credits in English, Mathematics and, at least, three other subjects.
Head of National Office, WAEC, Dr. Uyi Uwadiae, and his counterparts in The Gambia and Ghana, agree that there was an improvement in this year’s result when compared to 23.71 per cent in 2010; 30.91 per cent in 2011; and 38.81 per cent in 2012. The Gambia also improved from the 4.45 per cent recorded in 2011 to 5.02 in 2012.
Disclosing that results of 112,000 candidates (6.70 %) were being withheld for various reports of alleged involvement in examination malpractice, Uwadiae added “618,924 candidates (40.55%) obtained a credit and above in six subjects; 789,288 candidates (51.71%) obtained five credits and above; 943,187 candidates (61.80%) obtained credits in four subjects; 1,084,817 candidates (71.08 %) obtained a credit and above in three subjects; while 1,223,359 candidates (80.15%) obtained a credit and above in two subjects.”
The Zonal Co-ordinator, WAEC, Ghana, Mr. N. U. Alozie, pointed out that the results of 51,876 candidates (16. 73%) are being withheld by the Board for their alleged involvement in examination malpractice.
“250,487 candidates (80.78%) have two credits and above; 217,161 candidates (70.03%) have three credits and above; 180,480 candidates (58.20%) have four credits and above; 141,167 candidates (45.52%) obtained five credits and above; while 99,750 candidates (32.16%) obtained six credits and above.”
Commending the performance of science students in the exams, Former, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, called for the establishment of a national television station which will focus on the transmission of science education to help students improve on the sciences.
“Government needs to implement such for our students because if we have such dedicated channels for transmission of science programmes, it will help redirect the attention of our students from music to education.”
Vanguard Learning also spoke to some of the lucky 38.99 per cent that passed the exams and they were excited about their results.
Faithful Samuel is one of such. She had to forfeit her admission into the university last year because she couldn’t make all her papers. “It feels good,” she said. “Many of the papers were easier this year, and I worked much harder. English was tougher this year but mathematics wasn’t as hard. Thank God, a lot of sleepless nights have paid off.”
Tochi Nwude, who also passed the exams in flying colours, said, “Most of the questions that came out were in the past questions. I studied really hard, and many of my friends did well too even though there were no cases of exam malpractice in my school.”
Exam malpractice is however, a reason one teacher in Lagos State attributed to this year’s performance. “There was a lot of exam malpractice, but the government doesn’t want to hear that. On the other hand, I think that here in Lagos State, the ‘Eko’ project helped. Learning conditions in many of the state schools were improved and there were more facilities, so students had more hands-on experience, and that helped memory retention.”
Source: All Africa Online
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