By Sodiq Adelakun

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has identified poor infrastructure, surge in candidate enrollment, inadequate funding, examination malpractice, and question paper leaks as major constraints in ensuring fair and credible examinations in Nigeria.

The Registrar, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, made this known at a one-day retreat in Abuja on Monday.

According to Wushishi, despite NECO’s commitment to building a robust and equitable national assessment system that fosters educational excellence, the body faces numerous challenges.

He emphasised that strong legislation can contribute to aligning Nigerian qualifications with international standards.

The Registrar highlighted the need for improved infrastructure, adequate funding, and effective measures to combat examination malpractice and question paper leaks.

He noted that these challenges have contributed to the fallen standards of education in Nigeria, and NECO is working to address these issues to ensure fair and credible examinations.

He said, “These challenges underscore the critical need for a comprehensive national examination law specifically regulating all aspects of examination in Nigeria.

“We lack such a law, relying instead on a patchwork of regulations across examination bodies and individual schools,this creates vulnerabilities in the system.”

Speaking further, the Registrar proposed a bill titled, “The Conduct of Examinations in Nigeria,” urging members of the National Assembly to look into it to “create a future where Nigerian examinations are fair and equitable.”

By Sodiq Adelakun

The Lagos State University-Africa  Centre of Excellence for Innovative and Transformative STEM Education (LASU-ACEITSE) has inaugurated a cutting-edge laboratory aimed at training students in science, mathematics, and technology.

The laboratory was unveiled on Monday in a ceremony attended by dignitaries, including the National Coordinator, ACE Impact, Nigeria, Dr. Joshua Atah.

Dr. Atah commended the quality leadership and support of the university team, attributing the project’s success to their efforts.

He encouraged the university management and the LASU-ACEITSE team to build capacity at the leadership and implementation levels to sustain the project.

The laboratory is equipped with modern facilities and equipment, providing a conducive environment for students to explore and innovate in STEM fields.

“This project will be ending in the next 13 months, and so, all hands must be on deck to ensure that the goals of the ACE Impact project are achieved.

“In your efforts to build capacity, you can count on the support of the project implementation unit of the ACE Impact project at the National Universities Commission as we have done in the past.

“By the design of this project, under the disbursement linked indicators, quality of education and research through regionalisation, centres were expected to achieve certain milestones in order to qualify for the earnings.

“One of those results is the improved teaching and research environment. Today, you have made it clear to the world that the achievement of this result is complete,” he said.

In her remarks, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Vice-Chancellor, LASU said that the centre was critical to the achievement of the objective of internationalisation and making the university the best in West Africa.

Olatunji-Bello said that for this reason, the management of the university was committed to the goals and aspirations of the ACE-Impact Project.

“We have continued to sustain and improve the academic and administrative performance of the Centre.

“Since the establishment of the Centre in 2018, it has continued to play a key role in capacity building, not only for registered students of the centre but also for the other students and indeed, staff of the University,” she said.

Olatunji-Bello added that the centre had gone offshore in its delivery of short courses.

“The recent training of 311 STEM teachers in Benin Republic, in April this year, is a case in hand,”she said.

Emeritus Prof. Peter Okebukola, Pioneer Director of LASU-ACEITSE said that the project was approved by the World Bank and Federal Government for the training of exemplary, top quality STEM teachers.

Okebukola, also former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), said that so far, the centre had produced, more than ever, masters, PHD, research students in West Africa.

“This laboratory will provide STEM students with hands-on experiences because science is about knowledge, skills.

“I want to specially thank LASU V-C and all the management team and Director of the centre, one of the greatest mathematicians in education, for bringing this vision to reality.

“I want everyone in the country to know that we have the best centre for training top quality teachers in STEM.

“STEM education is for everyone, all we need is to create more awareness for people to be aware by encouraging children to study STEM,” he said.

Okebukola emphasised the importance of government policies to advance STEM education in Nigeria, stressing the need for implementation and monitoring.

Director of LASU-ACEITSE, Prof. Rasheed Sanni, urged governments at all levels to establish STEM education laboratories across local governments to support teachers and students.

He highlighted that since the inception of the centre, numerous students, including those pursuing master’s and PhD degrees, have graduated.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says that 1,814,344 candidates from 22,239 schools,  registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The council’s Head of National Office (HNO), Dr Josiah Dangut stated this at a pre-examination interactive session with newsmen on Monday in Lagos.

He disclosed that candidates would be examined in 76 subjects, made up of 197 papers, with about 30,000 practicing Senior Secondary school teachers, nominated by various Ministries of Education, to supervise the examination.

“I want to intimate you all about the level of readiness of council, for its upcoming 2024 WASSCE (school candidates).

“All is now set for the commencement of  the examination,  fixed for Tuesday, April 30 to Monday, June 24 in Nigeria, spanning seven weeks and six days.

“This examination will be conducted in four WAEC member countries, namely, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra-Leone and Liberia.

“Out of the total number of candidates that registered for the examination, 902,328 are males, while 912,016 others are females,” he stated.

According to him, the statistics shows that there is a further increase in the number of females and males that registered for the examination respectively, when compared to what was obtained in 2023.

Dangut added that on the whole, the candidature for this year, increased by 192,948.

The WAEC boss noted that in line with the directive of the Federal Government, the National Identification Number (NIN) was made a component of the registration process.

He added that the registration portal allowed candidates to submit their NIN.

On the issue of insecurity during the conduct of the examination nationwide, Dangut explained that council had stepped up efforts in ensuring extra security arrangements, especially in security prone areas.

“We cannot feign ignorance of the level of insecurity in the country.

“Conducting examinations has been challenging. Instances of insecurity exist in many places across the country and conducting examinations in insecurity-prone areas would require extra security arrangements.

“Consequently, we are liaising with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and state governments, to provide adequate security to ensure that the examination is conducted nationally, in a safe and secured  environment,” he said.

On the issue of examination malpractice, the HNO warned that council would not hesitate to deal decisively with candidates and examination functionaries,  who engaged in such act.

According to him, penalties for involvement in examination malpractice are meted out on erring candidates, supervisors and schools, upon establishment of culpability, by the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC).

“The NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the council, that sits on examination matters in Nigeria.

“The council, on its part, has rolled out several awareness campaigns nationwide and organised seminars for school proprietors, principals, students and other key stakeholders, to sensitize them on the immediate and long-drawn effects of examination malpractice.

“Similarly, flyers, banners, posters and other forms of reminders to further keep the message fresh in the minds of all stakeholders and candidates sitting the examination have been rolled out.

“It is therefore, on this note that, I call on parents and guardians to encourage their wards to study diligently and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractices.

“The mass media must come in handy, as efforts to rid our nation of this menace is a collective responsibility.

“The various ministries of education should call their principals, teachers and other officials serving as inspectors and/or supervisors, to order,” he said.

He also urged school principals and teachers to sensitize their students on the dangers of engaging in what he described as ‘terrible crime’ against humanity.

“Every candidate and examination functionary must play by the rules, which are well stipulated in the WAEC examination Syllabuses and Guidelines, for the conduct of examination, issued to schools.

“Erring schools would be derecognised, erring officials adequately punished, while erring candidates would lose their results, if found culpable,” he warned.

He also warned all operators of rogue websites to desist from their acts,  noting that WAEC would not condone their heinous acts, during the conduct of the forthcoming examination.

“Parents are hereby cautioned to desist from patronising these evil-doers, who are hell-bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC,” he said.

According to him, to further provide resource materials to aid candidates’ learning, WAEC has now introduced a compilation of past questions, with the marking schemes.

He noted that with the development, council was optimistic that candidates would use the booklets to enhance their study and preparedness for the examination.

The HNO added that already, WAEC had made available, its e-learning portal to assist candidates by providing learning materials, that would equip them with the requirements and expectations needed to write and pass their examination.

Dangut noted that this was with a view to proffering general guidance to teachers and other stakeholders.

“Students’ performances on previous examinations are analyzed, with regard to their general strengths and weaknesses, providing expert advice on the requirements for answering WASSCE questions.

“Candidates should visit https://WAEConline.org.ng for this service,” he said.

On the release of results, the HNO said in tune with council’s recent tradition, the results of candidates sitting the examination would be released, 45 days after the conduct of the last paper.

Dangut said that certificates would be printed and issued to schools in less than 90 days,  after the release of results.

“Meanwhile, the results will be released alongside the digital copies of candidates’ certificates, which can be accessed on the Digital Certificate platform.

“I, therefore, ask that all hands be on deck, to ensure that WASSCE for School Candidates, 2024, is hitch-free.

“However, non-adherence to the registration deadline is still a lingering challenge in preparation for examinations.

“It may surprise you to hear that even though entries were floated by Dec. 5, 2023 and the registration exercise was scheduled to finally end on April 3, the council continued to extend its deadline on registration until late April, due to requests from different stakeholders.

“Such actions impact negatively on the preparation of pre-examination, examination and post-examination materials.

“The council, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, the State Ministries of Education, the Nigeria Police, other security agencies and other stakeholders, would do all it can, to deliver on its mandate to conduct a credible examinations to the Nigerian child and the general public,” he said.