WAEC exempts Zamfara candidates over debt accumulation as Sokoto opts for NECO, NBTE
The head of Nigeria’s office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Patrick Areghan, has disclosed on Monday that students of public secondary schools of Sokoto and Zamfara will not be taking part in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) coming up in May/June 2022.
Areghan did not disclose the reason for the exemption, but reports gathered revealed that the examination body refused to accept candidates from Zamfara State over an accumulated debt owed over the years.
WAEC had at different times in the past withheld results of candidates sponsored by indebted states.
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Sources confirmed that the administration of the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, owed the examination body accumulated fees for public school candidates sponsored for the examination.
But the state’s commissioner for education, Zainab Gummi, told Premium Times on phone that the issue is being addressed in the interest of the students and Nigeria as a whole.
She also cited insecurity as a major reason for the difficulty in presenting candidates before the deadline, and promised: “that all hands are on deck to ensure quicker resolutions of all issues.”
“We have an agreement with the examination body and we are committed to fulfilling it. Our major challenge is insecurity because most students are not even in the right frame of mind to sit for examinations. But I can tell you that Governor Matawalle is committed to rebuilding Zamfara State and education is a key component of the drive,” Mrs Gummi said.
However, in Sokoto state, this is the second time public schools students will not be participating in the examination, as the government also failed to present candidates in 2021.
The state’s commissioner for education, Guiwa Bello, said the state has chosen to patronise the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the National Business and Technical Examination Board for enrollment of candidates for the senior school certificate examination (SSCE) and the national technical certificate examination conducted by both NECO and NBTE respectively.
Mr Bello also didn’t revealed why the state dumped WAEC, but insisted that “it is not mandatory for students to take WASSCE conducted by WAEC.”
He said: “It is our choice to make and we have opted for both NECO and NBTE which are our own duly accredited examination bodies.
“If anyone tells you that Sokoto is owing WAEC, such a person is just being mischievous. We are not owing WAEC a dime. We decided to choose which examination our students will take part in because it is not mandatory to take the WASSCE conducted by WAEC.”
Sources also revealed that WAEC refused to accommodate public school candidates from Sokoto State in 2021 because the education ministry failed to upload the mandatory continuous assessment score (CASS) for its candidates.
CASS is a mandatory requirement for enrollment of candidates for WASSCE for school candidates to know the capacity and records of each candidate.
While addressing journalists on Monday at WAEC headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, Mr Areghan appealed to other states that are owing the examination body to pay up or risk being publicly exposed.
According to Mr Areghan, such practice and the lateness of schools, and particularly private ones, to register their candidates within the stipulated time, are affecting the conduct of the examination.
Waec commended the Lagos State government for “always promptly paying its sponsored candidates’ fees and called on candidates to study hard and desist from any form of examination malpractice.
“The penalties for involvement in any form of examination malpractice will be meted out to erring candidates, supervisors, schools, as would be approved by the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), which is the highest decision-making organ of the council that sits on examination matters in Nigeria.
“It is on this note that I call on parents and guardians to admonish their wards to study hard and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractice.
“Every candidate and examination functionary must play by the rules which are well stipulated in the WAEC syllabus and guidelines for the conduct of examinations issued to schools.
“I want to specifically warn supervisors to desist from aiding and abetting examination malpractice by assisting candidates, one way or the other, especially by allowing them to enter the examination hall with their cell phones and make use of the same. This is shameful and indecorous. We shall fish them out and deal with them. All hands must be on deck to sanitise the education sector,” he said.
The WAEC boss said a total of 1,607,985 candidates from 20,221 schools have registered for the examination. He said of the figure, 800,055 representing 49.76 per cent are males, while 800,724, representing 50.24 per cent are females.
Mr Areghan said about 30,000 “practising senior teachers, nominated by various ministries of education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors.”
