My distinguished friends from the media
I am delighted to be with you once again for a brief interaction on a matter of extreme importance to all of us as stakeholders in education in the West African sub-region. Before delving into the matter of the day, I wish to appreciate all of you on the education desk, your editors and the media organisations that you represent for your effective coverage of the education sector and the positive impact of your vigilance and guidance on educational policy formulation and implementation in our sub-region. I also thank you immensely for your usual prompt response to WAEC’s invitation.
Gentlemen of the Media, we have called you together today to rub minds with you on an important upcoming event initiated and organized by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on behalf of all the stakeholders in education in the five member countries of WAEC – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Today’s interaction will afford you the opportunity to get the necessary information and clarifications that will equip you with enough understanding of the event to carry out your role adequately and accurately.
As you are all aware, the most notorious challenge facing examining bodies and other educational institutions in WAEC member countries is examination malpractice. Currently, the malaise has assumed dangerous and criminal dimensions on the heels of some advancement in technology which created the smartphones, the social media, etc.
The Council, in the five member countries, has introduced several measures, adopted various strategies and deployed technologies at great costs in the fight against the ever-festering menace. Misguided candidates and their adult collaborators, sometimes including school authorities, teachers, parents and, most recently, operators of rogue websites, have continued to devise ingenious and sophisticated methods of cheating leading to an exponential increase in reported cases of fraud in public examinations. For instance, in the May/June 1993 WASSCE in Nigeria, the results of only 58,494 candidates were withheld because of examination malpractice, but by WASSCE for School Candidates, 2017 the number of candidates’ results similarly withheld had shot up to 214,952.
Research studies have shown that one of the ways of curbing the worrisome trends in examination irregularities is the mounting of public enlightenment campaigns to draw attention of the stakeholders in education and the general public to the negative effects of examination malpractice on national development. The Governing Board of WAEC has therefore, approved the organisation of an International Summit on Examination Malpractice with the theme “Examination Malpractice: The Contemporary Realities and Antidotes”. The keynote address will be delivered by Emeritus Professor Pius Augustine Ike Obanya. Other Speakers include:
Professor Jonathan A. Fletcher (Ghana) on “Examination Malpractice: A
Threat to National Development”.
Professor Jonas A. S. Redwood Sawyerr (Sierra Leone) on “Technology and
Examination Malpractice”.
Barrister S. P. Binga (ICPC, Nigeria) on “Statutory Provisions Against
Examination Malpractice”.
Professor Pierre Gomez (The Gambia) on “International Collaborations in
Curbing Examination Malpractice”.
In addition, the Registrars/CEOs of WAEC, JAMB, NECO and NABTEB as well as the Chief Government Nominees on Council and Representatives of School Principals’ Associations in the five member countries will present papers at the Summit.
Esteemed friends, I implore you to give the International Summit the coverage and reportage it deserves because of its critical nature and importance in the development of education in the West African sub-region. The two-day Summit is scheduled to hold at the Academy Inn and Multipurpose Halls, Plot 6, Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos on October 19 and 20, 2017 at 10 a.m. each day.
Gentlemen of the media, on behalf of the Management and Staff of WAEC, I once again thank you most sincerely for sustaining the cordial relationship between your media organisations and WAEC. I am confident that together we shall continue to nurture this highly cherished relationship.
I thank you for your time and attention. God bless you
WAEC REGISTRAR
