WAEC Vows To Eliminate ‘Miracle Centres’

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says it will do everything possible to stop special centres also known as ‘Miracle Centres’ for its examinations in the country.
Deputy Registrar/Zonal Coordinator, WAEC in Enugu State Mrs Eucharia Onodu, made the vow in Enugu on Thursday at a stakeholders round table on how to end examination malpractice during West African School Certificate and the National Examination Council (NECO) Examination.
The round table was organised by a group, Bursting the Myths of Miracle Examination Centre (BMMEC), Enugu in collaboration with the Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) for stakeholders across the country.
Onodu said the council had put in a lot of measures to curb the menace in their examinations.
“We use unique Continuous Assessment of Candidates to identify candidates during exam registration.
“Miracle centres are not the making of WAEC and we are working seriously to stop it.
“WAEC does not register any candidate without the approval from the Ministry of Education.
“We have data of all the schools and if a school is coming for registration, we make sure the ministry of education endorses it,” she said.
The zonal coordinator reiterated that the council would sanction any school suspected of foul play and would stop excess registration and migration of candidates.
She added that when examination was on, WAEC officers would monitor and inspect centres and encouraged their supervisors to report cheating.
Groups and stakeholders in education on Thursday converged on Enugu to brainstorm on various ways to end examination malpractice in private schools during external exams.
The Principal Investigator, BMMEC, Prof. Uzoma Okoye, said the discussions were aimed to end examination malpractice during WASCE and NECO examinations.
Okoye said the group was partnering with the Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) to galvanise critical stakeholders at proffering solution to corruption in educational system.
Uzoma, from the department of Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said research had shown that all over the world certificates acquired from Nigeria were being discriminated against due to condition it was acquired.