When UTME applicants visit WAEC offices to look up results

Five West African nations that speak English are familiar with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), founded in 1952.

The primary reason is that it administers exit exams in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia. Students in their final year of secondary school must take WAEC-organized exams, and because of the stress and extensive preparation involved, their families will be aware of the council’s name and some of its activities. One of the most well-known exams administered by WAEC is the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which is held twice a year, in May or June for school candidates and in October or November for private candidates.

WAEC has national offices throughout the nations where it conducts business, including Nigeria, where its national office is situated in Yaba, Lagos State, despite having its headquarters in Accra, Ghana.

However, WAEC has gained a lot of popularity over time, and its procedures have changed dramatically.

“Candidates now register for WASSCE online through the WAEC registration website,” Ugwumba, a journalist, observed. Additionally, the website offers details about the exam schedule and syllabuses.

With all of this, he contends, the typical Nigerian student and their family ought to be well-informed about WAEC and the tests it administers.

Analysts have noted, however, that some non-WAEC exam takers visit WAEC offices in Nigeria to look up the results of other tests, occasionally accompanied by their parents or guardians.

They further note that some applicants visit WAEC websites in an attempt to find the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.

Some blame this on simple negligence, while others blame ignorance, calling for greater knowledge of the body’s functions so that people are familiar with them.

The issue is concerning, according to Mrs. Eucharia Onodu, Senior Divisional Representative for WAEC in charge of Test Administration in Nigeria.

Onodu affirms that some UTME candidates have gone to certain WAEC offices to pick up their UTME results.

She goes on to say that test takers for the National Business and Technical Examinations Board also come to WAEC offices to check their results or get answers to questions.

According to the official, the council’s recent developments, such as the use of computer-based exams (CBT), have made it increasingly crucial to educate the public about WAEC procedures.

She claims that although the council is making great efforts to raise awareness of this issue, it requires the help of the media to succeed.

Mr. Kingsley Okpara, a father, believes that further education is necessary to assist candidates in navigating the CBT and other issues associated with WAEC-organized exams.

According to Okpara, several students made mistakes during the WASSCE registration and exam as well as other exams because they were ignorant.

In order to improve, fortify, and preserve the integrity of its tests, WAEC launched the hybrid WASSCE in 2024, according to Dr. Amos Dangut, Head of the National Office of WAEC.

For the essay and practical, the questions are displayed on a screen, and the candidates are given answer booklets, which they are expected to fill out. This makes the exam a hybrid one in that the objectives (both the questions and the answers) are entirely computer-based.

In February, we provided all of the papers in that format for the first series.

We chose to offer both the standard and hybrid formats of the November/December exam (for private applicants), and candidates were instructed to select their preferred mode at the time of registration.

“We have received inquiries about how we plan to carry out this examination in the hinterlands,” Dangut explains.

The head of the national office is sure that WAEC can manage the CBT, but in order to educate the public about the project, the mass media must promote it.

He claims that a 2016 study demonstrates that the secondary school pupils under investigation possess the computer literacy necessary to complete the WASSCE in CBT mode.

He continues by saying that WAEC research in certain cities indicates that the CBT mode improves performance.

The malpractice rate sharply decreased. With CBT, it decreased to 0.8 percent from 4.16 percent the previous year.

Our current position is that schools ought to be outfitted. We will be able to do the tests if they are prepared.

He exhorts, “What we are even advocating now is that, while schools without the infrastructure should continue to use pen and paper until the infrastructure is available, schools that already have the facilities and are ready to take it should be allowed to take the examination.”

In order to promote public awareness of WAEC’s activities, he highlights the importance of the mass media in raising awareness of the council’s operations.

Dangut states that the council is dedicated to using technology to enhance its assessment procedures.

He promises that WASSCE will keep implementing technical advancements to make its services easily available to all stakeholders.

All parties involved are urged by analysts to fully utilize educational innovations for development. (NANFeature)