Sierra Leone News: WAEC Deserves Commendation
By Alusine Sesay
The Head of National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Arnold Kamara and the Council have been unfairly criticized for the poor performance of candidates in the 2018/2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
What had Council and the HNO done that warrant such criticism?
Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Professor Aiah Gbakima was quoted by New Vision newspaper as saying that “scrap the West African Examinations Council and change it leadership because they have not been functioning effectively over the years.” His comment came following mass failure of candidates in the 2018/2019 WASSCE.
This criticism is unfair considering the role played by WAEC over the years in maintaining educational standards. The minister should not be blamed for his comment because he might not be familiar with the activities and role played by WAEC to determine the examinations required in the country, to conduct the examinations and to award certificates comparable to those of equivalent examining authorities internationally.
Established in 1952, WAEC has contributed to education in Sierra Leone by assisting in developing sound education and ensure educational standards are maintained. Council does these through a number ways including the conduct of examinations and award of certificates to deserving candidates.
Apart from these, the Research Division of the National Office of WAEC had conducted a number of research on topics include the poor performance of candidates in public examination, poor performance of candidates in the sciences subjects, challenges in teaching science subjects, among others, in a bid to improve the educational standards.
These research papers, which could inform policy decisions, are available at the Research Division of Council.
Through the initiative of the Head of National Office and support from the Endowment Fund, Council had organised a number of seminars to teach candidates how to answer WAEC questions and pass examinations. Countless seminars had been held by the national office to empower teacher to teach the difficult topics in various subjects.
Each year WAEC produces the Chief Examiner’s Report which shows candidates strengths and weaknesses in the various subjects and suggests remedies. It also touches on what teachers should look out for when preparing their candidates for examinations.
All these are efforts to assist in the development of sound education and ensure that educational standards are maintained.
The HHO, WAEC Sierra Leone, Mr Arnold Kamara has developed a team of well-trained and highly motivated staff that had administered examinations that are valid and relevant to the educational aspirations of Sierra Leone. We need to commend HNO for maintaining educational standards rather than castigating him for failures of public officials. This has to stop. Our policymakers are familiar with our educational problems, and some of these problems could be found in various reports include the Gbamanja Commission report.
Over the years, WAEC has been assisting in the development of sound education and ensuring that educational standards are maintained. Curbing examination malpractices has been at the core of WAEC priorities, and steps had been taken to minimize or eliminate examination frauds. The success of this stride was reflected in the low exams frauds recoded in the 2018/2019 WASSCE. We need to give condos to the HNO and his team for flying the WAEC flag high and for assisting in the development of sound education in Sierra Leone.
