Computer-Based Exam: Schools Should be Equipped with Computers, CCTVs, says WAEC

In this interview, the Head of Nigeria Office, West African Examination Council, Dr Amos Dangut, tells GRACE EDEMA that the time for conduct of the computer-based examination for internal candidates of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination will be decided by the government and school owners.

When WAEC announced its plan to diversify into computer-based examinations starting with private WASSCE, there were lots of fears from school owners. Even the Nigeria Union of Teachers kicked against it believing that students would be disadvantaged. Do explain the process

It is simply human beings’ reactions to changes. We are always skeptical and afraid when something is out of our comfort zone. We forget that change is a necessity, and it is constant. Everything about our individual, social, and corporate life changes.

There’s no need for them to be afraid. We can cite a lot of technological innovations that happened in the assessment industries, which saw the light of the day and came to pass. Take for example, when we started our e-registration, they were afraid and skeptical and swore that heaven and earth would fail. But you and I know that it was a huge success. There’s another examination body in Nigeria that came on board and said they were going to do it and everybody went agog that it wasn’t working. But we know that it worked.

And just as we are talking now, ours has been working. It is interesting that WAEC has been conducting computer-based examinations, but not with the WASSCE. For the WASSCE, this is the first time we’re applying it. As for the use of computer-based examination in testing, or assessment, we’re not new to it.

The NUT secretary-general cited a lot of challenges, including bad roads, poor access to the internet, lack of electricity, and students’ computer illiteracy. What does WAEC hope to tackle these?

WAEC is a master in the field. It is Africa’s foremost examination body. We didn’t just get there. We know how to achieve our results. I should let you know that we have conducted exams where there are no roads. Don’t ask me how we did it, but we did. There are schools spread across Nigeria. We do it over hills, valleys, oceans, rivers, and so on. So to talk about electricity, thank God, we have many forms of electricity. It’s not just the one from the major power distribution company. So, we have other alternative forms of doing it. When you talk of rural areas, in the first instance, the exam will start with the private candidates’ examination. In this particular instance, the first series, and it’s coming up in February. For the records, since we started that exam, it has been a city-based examination. In other words, we don’t have centres for this particular diet in rural areas. It doesn’t mean that we cannot have it there.

We do it where the exam is viable, and it’s viable in cities and towns. I assure you today, that if there’s a reasonable request in the rural area, we’re up to the task. You talk about people not knowing how to use the computer. As for students who don’t know how to use the computer, pardon me for saying you’re still living in the past.

I think I’m correct because, at an event in UNILAG, certain senior secondary students couldn’t operate the digital devices they were asked to operate

Some scholars, including Dangut and Sakiho, carried out research in Adamawa and Taraba states about 8 years ago on the assessment of computer literacy skills among secondary school students in the two states. The finding was very clear and very emphatic that the basic skill for secondary level, they already had it. Our study also reveals that public schools have the basic facilities and the results established that they are computer literate. Now I want to remark that what the CBE requires is not the ability to type whatsoever; as long as a candidate can read, the system tells him what to press ‘n’ for the next question and then to press ‘n’ for the next question. So it’s very user-friendly provided that person can read. Of course, if a candidate cannot read in SS3, what’s he going to do there?

Please clarify, is the CBE WASSCE for city or rural dwellers?

You see for the private candidate exams series, WASSCE, from the beginning when we started it, it had been a city-based examination. We have never conducted it in the villages. The one that goes nearer to the villages is the second series. So, even for the first series, WAEC exists to conduct exams in the public interest. So if the public says we want it in Sambisa, for example, the public will give us security but ours is to go and conduct exams, provided the demand is reasonable. It has always been a city-based examination and it’s conducted in capitals or major towns where there are candidatures.

Does it mean a candidate who wants to write it in the village, has to leave that village?

If it’s not feasible. We are talking about viability. It takes a lot to conduct exams and that’s why I came back to the word ‘viable.’ So if in the remotest village, there’s a reasonable demand, we’ll do it.

For the normal school exams, how soon does WAEC intend to make them computer-based?

We are an assessment body. To regulate schools is not our duty. To equip schools is not our duty. We advise and recommend. We have started recommending to proprietors, and that will include public and private schools, to equip schools with technology; technology in terms of computers, CCTVs, and anything that would aid the conduct of exams. And we cannot do anything in schools until the government gives the go-ahead. So we are ready, whenever the government, proprietors of public and private schools are ready to conduct exams in their schools with the use of the computer, we’ll conduct it for them.

So there’s no time or fixed duration for the commencement of CBE in schools?

We cannot set the time. It is the government that will determine the time for computer-based exams for school candidates.

If you’ve been writing the first series in the CBT, why did you announce it?

We have not done this for WASSCE. We have been doing aptitude tests for schools that want to find whether their students are best suited for arts or science, or individuals who want to find out their competencies in various fields, and for employment, we have always used computer-based assessments. The WASSCE is in two categories: WASSCE for private candidates and WASSCE for school candidates. Now we are deploying CBT for private candidates.

What do you say regarding the rise of WASSCE form fees from N19,000 to 27,000, school owners are complaining

The cost of everything has risen very high. It is impacting on whatever we do. Then we don’t own everything in the conduct of the exam. They provide services for us, and we are affected by the market forces. We won’t go there and pick it up for free. That explains the increase in it. I should also let you know that the government has never been charging for economic fees but social fees. The government has not done 100% of what’s expected. They are trying and we appreciate that. The little that the government is giving is augmented by exam fees from applicants. What they’re paying is not 100% of the fees. Inflation is the reality of the day.

What are your visions for the next four years? How do you aim to turn WAEC around?

I intend to focus on what has already been started, consolidate and take it to where it was not existing before, and improve their delivery so that everybody will be happy. We also want to reduce, if not eliminate examination malpractice. These are some things to achieve for the immediate time.

How do you intend to reduce examination malpractice?

 A lot of times candidates are misled when they are online. I’ve thrown this as a challenge and permit me to throw it again. When you say our questions are online, let’s see the evidence. Those are adjustments here and there and people say they are questions from WAEC. I have yet to be confronted with leakages. What usually happens is when exams begin, some people smuggle in phones and snap the questions and then before the exam is over questions begin to flow around. We give out our question papers approximately one hour before the exam. As soon as the supervisors collect it outside the custodian point, questions begin to flow. As far as we know, they never got out of our hands.

How do you intend to reduce the state government’s debt during your tenure?

As we talk, I cannot say there’s a state that has refused to pay because most of the time before the exam begins, they come to us. Sometimes they say finish it and let us know how many students sat the exams and they will pay. Normally, they would have structured out the plan, and the phases in which that money would be paid. Many of them live up to their agreement, and some of them delay a bit. But I can assure you that they always pay. Not that we have a case of bad debt. No. There will be a period of default but eventually, they pay.

Looking at the education sector, and as the custodian and assessor of students’ learning, what advice do you have for stakeholders on how to make the sector more valuable, and globally competitive?

As I said earlier, we are not regulators, but we are an important stakeholder. We’ve been in the art and science of conducting exams, for over 71 years we’ve garnered a lot of wisdom and experience. In fact, at a particular time, it was our syllabus that was used as curriculum in schools. Having said all these, our experience and observation on the field have come up with very valid points that must be addressed if we are to progress educationally. 

We need to advance educationally for economic and social development; Those things that stakeholders must provide in terms of adequate personnel, infrastructure, and facilities. When I say adequate personnel, I mean in terms of number and quality. Many of our schools don’t have the right set of teachers. In some cases, they are not qualified to teach in the senior secondary schools let alone examination classes. 

You and I know that the state governments have had recurring battles of having qualified manpower and in some cases, you find just about two teachers. I have personally gone to a school where there were only two teachers. What do you expect to come from such a school? Another thing is infrastructure: schools don’t have classes. Some schools are under trees, which means under harsh weather of rain and harmattan nobody will learn. There are no examination halls where students are expected to sit comfortably to be able to be at their best and write examinations. 

Then when you talk about facilities, our laboratories have become museums. I shouldn’t even call them museums because museums will have artefacts; they have just become halls. Nothing there. Library empty. We need to equip our schools with teaching and learning materials. That will include the equipment and the specimens for practicals. It’s three-fold as I say: the manpower, the infrastructure, and the facilities or equipment.

November 30, 2023