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Nigeria: Mass Failure in Waec Exams

14 October 2008

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editorial

Lagos — If any proof was needed about the bleak future facing the nation's educational system, the latest West African Examination Council (WAEC) School Certificate Examinations is one. The result of the May/June examination, usually organized by the WAEC shows that out of the 1,369,142 that sat for the examination, only 188,442 candidates (representing 13.76 per cent) passed with five credits in English Language, Mathematics and three other subjects. That means that about 83 per cent of the candidates failed to make the required five credits pass for entry into any of the Nigerian universities.

But for the alternative examination body-National Examination Council (NECO) --which conducts similar exams, what this would have meant is that only 13 or so per cent of the candidates would have been available for university admission next academic session. This, to say the least, is a national embarrassment. It shows the level of decay in the educational performance of Nigerian secondary schools.

Yet this would not surprise keen observers of high school education in Nigeria. That 83 per cent of the candidates failed the examination only goes to confirm the longstanding slide in that vital sector. The signs have always been with us.

Given the myriad of problems faced by students, teachers and the entire educational system, such a dismal performance is only to be expected. A school system that hardly runs without incessant disruptions is bound to produce students whose learning and assimilation sequence has been distorted and disrupted time and time again.

With growing cases of shabby treatment meted out to teachers by government, teachers themselves have also lost every sense of commitment and passion for the once-prized teaching profession. These days, many teachers are also petty traders, using the teaching profession only as a camouflage. Thus, they have little or no time for their students. This contrasts sharply with the days of yore when teachers took their profession seriously because government took teachers seriously.

Moreover, the lack of teaching facilities, laboratory equipment, modern libraries, and general conducive learning environment has also affected the over all performance of our students at such international examinations. Many public schools lack even basic facilities like seats and desks. Worse still, even some classrooms have no roofs. What magic in terms of impressive performance can be expected from products of such a decrepit system?

Although the WAEC anlaysis of the result did not state so, it is safe to assume that a large proportion of those who failed the examination are from public schools.

That explains, but does not excuse, the malaise of examination malpractices, in which students desperately seek shortcuts to passing qualifying examinations, which as it is, is a passport to higher education.

It is remarkable that this is the result of an examination that witnessed massive leakage of question papers warranting the cancellation and re-setting of several papers.

The lesson in that for students is that there is no shortcut to academic success. Those who must pass, have to work hard by studying deeply and widely the topics covered in the syllabus for the examination.

In all, the dismal performance of candidates in the last School Certificate Examination should provoke a genuine search for solution to the nation's educational woes. Something drastic needs to be done to save the situation.

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