The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) released the results of the first Computer-Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for private candidates in March. The exam took place from January 31 to February 17, 2024, at 140 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers across the country. 8,139 candidates participated, representing 47.45% male and 52.55% female. 30.95% of candidates obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
The Council in November last year said it would be migrating from the traditional paper-based examinations to computer-based examinations for its private candidates examinations, to meet with the current “global best practices”, an effort that has been tagged as a welcome development.
“It’s a welcome development. CBTs, as we know, are time-saving, flexible, quite secure, and easy to use” said Gideon Adeyeni, Programme Officer at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
However, this decision generated criticisms from Nigerians, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYF), a northern Nigerian pressure group, that called for the rejection of the new model. The group through its president, Yerima Shettima, suggested that the CBT exams should have been optional, allowing candidates to choose between the pen-and-pencil format and the computer-based model.
Experts Share Insight
Within Nigeria gathered that the percentage of candidates, who had similar results in the same first series last year and the year before were 23.99% and 26.32%, an indication that there is a marginal increase of 6.96% in performance by candidates. Despite this, experts believe that the candidate’s pass rate should be higher.
Adeyeni emphasized that the examination council took insufficient care to ensure that the novelty of the model did not result in mass failure as warned by many critical observers then.
According to him, given the absence of the inefficiencies associated with paper-based tests, one might have anticipated a higher pass rate. “And I must say that a pass rate of 30.95% is itself a failure, an indictment of our education system.”
“ There is no doubt that if sufficient care was taken to ensure that the novelty of the model does not result in glitches as warned, the pass rate would have not been as low as 30.95%. Taking sufficient care here would mean investing sufficient resources and energy in giving adequate training to the candidates to ensure that they are proficient in the use of this model. While the council will surely argue to the contrary, the result suggests very strongly that it may not have done enough to familiarise the candidates with the model. There is also the problem of access, especially for candidates from rural areas, many of whom have to travel many miles to write their examination.” Adeyeni Emphasized.
Improving Pass Rate
Michael Abdullahi, an education development practitioner has called for a proactive measure to prevent a similar outcome in the next West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). He noted that improving access to technology and the internet in rural areas, amongst others will help improve the pass rate of future examinations.
“ Improving access to technology and the internet in rural areas, ensuring infrastructure readiness, providing equitable resources, offering comprehensive preparation and training programs for both students and educators and considering alternative examination formats if necessary will help improve pass rates” while also highlighting that “monitoring and evaluation of implementation strategies can identify and address potential challenges before they impact exam outcomes.”
