Connect with us

Nation

8,350 Private Candidates Sit For WAEC’s Maiden CBT

Published

on

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) said on Saturday that its maiden Computer Based Test (CBT) for WASSCE first series, for private candidates, would eliminate the major source of examination malpractice.
The council’s Head of National Office (HNO), Dr Amos Josiah Dangut, stated this while monitoring the examination in some centres in Lagos.
Recall that the council had stated its readiness to conduct the maiden edition of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) first series for private candidates, using the CBT platform.
The examination commenced on January 31 and would be concluded on February 17.
Dangut said prior to the introduction of the CBT, the contents of the examination were usually let out before the test through some mischief makers who might have a role to play during the examination.
“So, I think with the introduction of this CBT, the issue of candidates having fore knowledge before the commencement of the examination will largely have been eliminated. It can no longer be business as usual.
“The major avenue, source of leakage, where we used to have supervisors carry these question papers from one point to the other will no longer obtain.
“When I say leakage, I mean the tearing of the bag containing the examination questions and sneaking out one. So, with this new concept, this will never happen.
“Again, you can see with the sitting arrangements that the candidates are also separated with cubicles that will not enable them to engage in any form of examination malpractice, coupled with the fact that they have to be dealing with different subjects at the point in time”, he said.
The council boss explained that given the CBT mode of examination, one does not need a special software to check examination malpractice, because the questions vary from one candidate to the other.
He said so far, the process had been encouraging, as there had not been any reported case of infraction or technical hitch recorded across the designated centres for the examination nationwide.
According to him, the council prepared well, did a lot of sensitisation, and gave the candidates the opportunity to try hands-on before the commencement of the examination.
According to him, power supply would not affect the examination as the council had made two alternative arrangements outside public supply.
The HNO said power was critical in choosing all the centres engaged to conduct the test.
He said the council was not on the general internet and was using the intranet for the conduct of the examination.
“Today, the general Mathematics is taking place and as you can see, everything is moving on smoothly.
“The systems are top notch, with zero hitches recorded since the commencement of the examination on January 31.
“This examination is being conducted simultaneously across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“We have about 8,350 candidates sitting for this examination as of today, because we have opportunity for people who want to register and start their own examination the next day.
“We call such candidates ‘walk in candidates’ and because of that too, the entry keeps going up everyday.
“For example, last week, when we were having the briefing exercise, we had about 8,230 candidates, but like I said before, as we speak, we have over 8,350 in all, because of the ‘walk in’ candidates,” he said.

“Candidates who would want to sit for a paper on Monday are doing their registration today. They will have to register at least 24 hours before the commencement of the paper they intend to be examined on”, he said.

The HNO added that the WAEC Test and Training Centre (WTTC) at Ogba was one of the 10 centres being used for the examination in Lagos.

According to him, the council is optimistic that it will have a successful outing of the maiden edition of the WASSCE CBT for private candidates, given the state of its readiness.

He said the council had interacted with the stakeholders and they had all expressed delight at the development.

“You know, perception has a lot to do with performance. The stakeholders had anticipated very well and the result is what we are getting so far.

“We have said right from onset that this is a hybrid examination. The objective questions are beamed on the screen and are answered on the screen.

“But for essay, just like this general Mathematics paper 2, you will find out that have answer booklet provided for them where they are expected to do their calculations but the questions too are beamed on the screen. That is what makes it hybrid mode”, he stated.

Dr Dangut continued that results of the examination were expected to be out 45 days after the last paper.

He expressed optimism that the second series of the WASSCE for private candidates that would begin in November would also be taken through the CBT mode.

“We are encouraged with what we have now for this maiden edition. We sat on the drawing board, got our act right and that is why we are able to deploy the computer mode for this examination.

“So, after this one, we will also go back to the drawing board and together strategise for the second series”, he said.

Some of the candidates who participated in the examination said it gave them the opportunity to have a feel of what obtains with other computer based tests in the age of technology.

Continue Reading

Nation

Council Boss Impeached 48 Hours To LG Polls In Katsina

Published

on

The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.

Continue Reading

Nation

Association Tasks Fubara On Rumuwoji Market Phase Three

Published

on

The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association,  Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo  also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.

Continue Reading

Nation

AfDB President Denies 2027 Presidential Ambition

Published

on

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.

Continue Reading

Trending