Education Minister Vows Fairness & Inclusivity in CBT Rollout for WAEC & NECO Exams

No student, whether in an urban or rural community, would be left behind in the shift to computer-based tests (CBT), according to Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, Minister of State for Education.

Ahmad said during Tuesday’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) supervision in a few chosen Abuja schools.

“We won’t use CBT in a way that leaves any student behind. Every child, regardless of infrastructure or location, will have the chance to write their exam.

“Nigerians must be patient with us. By the time CBT is fully implemented, no child will be disadvantaged since we are taking all concerns seriously,” she said.

The minister acknowledged the technical and infrastructure issues that need to be resolved before full adoption, while highlighting the substantial gains that the CBT transition brings.

According to her, the visit demonstrated a definite student preference for CBT when comparing the results of traditional paper-based exams with the CBT.

According to my conversations with the students, they are satisfied with the CBT test and even express a preference for it over the written version.

Everything ran smoothly and on time at a CBT center; however, at a paper-based exam center, the script wasn’t even on the floor, and the exam was delayed because of the weather.

These are the kinds of problems that cognitive behavioral therapy aims to resolve. Since the system only starts counting when the student accesses the questions, CBT will guarantee that students are given their entire allowed exam time.

According to her, “This helps to address problems like weather-related delays, transportation issues, and administrative lapses.”

In addition to scheduling, Ahmad claimed that CBT was viewed as a way to end widespread exam misconduct.

She claimed that systematic answer sharing, question leaks, and impersonation would all be significantly decreased with the customized sets of questions for every applicant.

“We know how schools and students manipulate the system, but CBT will shut those doors,” she said.

She did concede, though, that there might be significant practical challenges to the shift, particularly in rural areas where internet and energy infrastructure are still lacking.

In order to close these gaps, the minister stated that WAEC and NECO were collaborating closely with JAMB and other education partners.

She went on to say that in addition to using JAMB’s well-equipped CBT centers for upcoming tests, state governments would be consulted in order to identify rural and urban problems and create practical answers.

“We want to utilize the current JAMB centers when we administer the CBT exam. Since there are schools in remote areas without light, as you correctly pointed out, we will not be using school centers.

There is no electricity in the exam room of the school we are currently evaluating. It would be extremely difficult if CBT were being used here today.

She emphasized, “So all of these are being taken into consideration, and we are carefully planning to ensure that no student is at a disadvantage when we really embark on this CBT.” (NAN)