Examinations at nightfall

 There were two occasions within the last couple of weeks when pupils sitting their West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) had to make do with dim illumination at nightfall to get through particular papers. The exams being conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) began on April 24th and is expected to conclude on June 20th, this year.

On Wednesday, last week, 28th May, candidates in Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Benue and Taraba states, among others, sat their exams till about 9p.m. on the average and close to midnight in Taraba particularly. The test at issue was Part II and III (Objectives and Theory) of the English Language paper. Candidates had taken Part I of the paper (Oral English) in the morning and were waiting to sit the remainder in the early afternoon, only to encounter a delay by which the question paper did not arrive most centres until past twilight. The exam held at between 7p.m. and 9p.m. in many places, while in others like Taraba, centres did not receive the paper until after 9p.m., forcing candidates to sit the exam till about midnight. In most places, centres were illuminated with phone torches and other makeshift lamps to enable the pupils to write the examination under nightfall blanket of darkness.

School proprietors, teachers, parents and the pupils themselves were among stakeholders who bemoaned the turn of events. A teacher in Osun was reported saying: “It is a frustrating experience. We never planned to stay this late, but officials of WAEC insisted the exam should be held today. We had to use phone torchlights to illuminate the hall. There may be mass failure in the subject due to this. Many parents have been calling us about the whereabouts of their children, we had to explain to them about the change (of schedule). We started the exam at 7p.m. and ended by 9p.m.” A school proprietress in Taraba confirmed that her pupils finished their exam at midnight and voiced her concern over the emotional and physical toll on the students, many of who waited in school throughout the day. “As teenagers, they needed to be well-fed and in the right frame of mind to write such a critical paper. I had to take full responsibility for their welfare,” she said. The proprietress alleged poor logistical arrangement on the part of WAEC, saying she personally drove out in heavy rain that night to pick up exam supervisors so the examination could eventually hold. “I had to buy 30 litres of fuel to power the generator for the hall to be properly lit, which wasn’t part of our plan or budget,” she added.

Parents who went in search of their wards only to be told they were taking the English paper late described the arrangement as uncalled for. They said WAEC could have postponed the examination rather than subject the candidates – mostly teenagers – to such hardship, especially as many had to take another subject the next day. A parent was reported lamenting: “I don’t think the students can pass this examination (i.e. English paper) because they practically wrote it in the dark.”

Barely a week before the English paper delay, a video clip that went viral online showed pupils of Unity Model School in Asaba, Delta State, sitting one of their senior school certificate exams late in the evening and using torchlight beam to get by because the classroom they were using had no power supply. In the video, a woman was heard berating officials for putting young ones through such experience, saying the examination ought to have held at 2p.m. whereas the exam papers did not arrive until 6p.m. Consequently, it was already dark by the time the students sat the exam; and as the school was without electricity, a torchlight had to be stationed in the classroom. “It's not OK,” the woman could be heard saying of the children's plight, noting that even during her time when lanterns were the in-thing, pupils were not subjected to such experience.

The video clip elicited public outrage as many people took issue with the state of education infrastructure, particularly under Delta authorities’ watch. Education Minister Tunji Alausa was not left out. He called the incident “totally unacceptable” and stressed his ministry’s commitment to ensuring safe and dignified spaces for learning and sitting examinations. In a statement, the ministry said it was working closely with the Delta government and WAEC to unravel factors involved in the debacle. It promised transparency with eventual corrective measures.

“WAEC must factor the entire circumstance of writing the English paper into assessing candidates on that paper. If necessary, the paper had better be retaken.”

For its part, the Delta government took strong exception to the incident, but hinted it was beyond its direct control. Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, was reported saying: “We are on the matter. I have spoken to WAEC to find a solution to what is happening. WASSCE is not a state exam, it’s a federal exam.” She added: “I told them not to stress our students. Imagine students coming back from the examination centre at such late hour. It’s not too good. I called the exam controller, and I think we are trying to resolve the situation.” 

WAEC has not commented openly on the Asaba incident, even with the school involved said to be less than a kilometre from its office in the Delta capital. But the examination body hasn’t been silent about the delay with the English paper. Stated plainly, what happened apparently was that the paper leaked and WAEC decided to make a last minute substitution, resulting in logistical bottlenecks in getting the alternative set of questions to examination centres. Never mind that the information was couched in officialese by the council when it tendered a public apology. In an official statement, it said the delay resulted from efforts to safeguard the integrity of the exam, which “impacted the timeliness and seamless conduct” of the paper. 

The Head, Nigerian National Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, shed some light on the matter on a television programme later last week, saying the examination body got information that the paper to be taken on Wednesday was compromised, hence it needed to take immediate action. According to him, when the examination body got that information, “we went to the drawing board and quickly came up with a solution to the compromised paper. We were able to achieve the aim we set out to achieve, which was to prevent leakage; but unfortunately, some other issues lurking in the dark reared their heads and affected timely conduct of the examination, and that is particularly with regard to logistics.” This was how Dangut explained the peculiar challenge with Taraba: “We had serious logistical problems because the vehicle that was conveying the exam materials to Taraba broke down in the middle of the night, and efforts to ensure that materials were recovered and sent to the place could not be achieved on time.” He submitted: “We deeply regret it and we have taken all steps necessary to ensure this is nipped in the bud and that it does not recur.”

Anyone with an idea of complex logistical operations as WAEC typically undertakes for the conduct of its examinations (INEC’s processes for conducting elections are similar) would get where the national office head was coming from. These operations are like a powerful locomotive engine that stirs gradually into motion, gains progressive acceleration, and enters into bullish speed before its driver notices some trespasser on the track ahead. Staying course would invariably cost the life of the trespasser – in the present case representing the integrity of the examinations. On the other hand, abruptly pulling the breaks would entail seismic process contractions in the cruising locomotive. What WAEC did was like cutting the engine speed and moving the locomotive over to an alternative track, which inevitably involved rocky disruptions in the course of the journey. 

All these were avoidable if there had been no threats ab initio to the course of the journey. Paper leakages are a function of examination malpractice perpetrated by desperate candidates, in many cases at active instance of desperate parents abetted by unscrupulous persons within the examination body. When there’s a more ethical disposition to educational pursuits in our country, there will be fewer occasions for the sort of manoeuvres made by WAEC last Wednesday. Having said that about the English paper incident, the earlier delay in Asaba was horrendous and the examination body owes an explanation. Discourse about the general state of education infrastructure will be for another day. Meanwhile, WAEC must factor the entire circumstance of writing the English paper into assessing candidates on that paper. If necessary, the paper had better be retaken.