WAEC: Mass failure too many

As controversy continues to trail the recently released 2014 WAEC results, AUGUSTINE OKEZIE writes that undertaking an effective remediation, rather than apportioning blames, will save the nation from the present quagmire

Announcing the release of the results in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive and Head of the National Office of WAEC, Mr. Charles Eguridu said only 31.28 percent of the over 1.7 million candidates that sat for the examination had credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics compared to the 36.57 percent in 2013 and 38.81 percent in 2012.
Reacting to the results, Mr. Ayotunde Olumide, a Computer Engineer based in Ijegun, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria said it is very sad that the standard of education has fallen totally in Nigeria.
“With the results released by WAEC where majority of students failed to make credit in English and Mathematics, do we need any doomsday critic to tell us that the standard of our education has fallen totally,” Olumide said.

He said children of nowadays don’t prepare for examinations any longer. “In fact they don’t read again. They rely on ‘Expo’ to see them through,” he stated.
“It is true that teachers are doing their best. Unfortunately, many students are not serious about their studies. Some teachers are also to blame for this poor performance because they are not pushing the students hard enough to read and pass their examinations. Students have become very lazy and are not reading again,” he lamented.
Another parent, Mr. Divine Smart, a Mechanical Engineer based in Abuja, FCT, blamed teachers for the poor performance of students, stressing that most of them do not follow the syllabus in teaching students while those who followed the syllabus do not finish it before the students are made to sit for WAEC examinations.
“Teachers in Nigeria contributed to the failure of our children. Many teachers don’t finish the syllabus before the students are made to sit for WAEC examinations. There is no way such students will excel in the examinations. School owners should look into this and sanction teachers who failed to finish the syllabus at the end of the term,” he said.

In his own comment, a 200-Level student of university of Abuja , Olamilekan Adio, called on the authorities to declare a state of emergency in education, stressing that it is the only way the standard of education can improve in the country. “Our educational system is in a state of rot and students cannot excel in this situation,” he stated.
Mrs. Abiodun Adagun, a teacher at Newbreed International School, Ikotun blamed the students and their parents for the mass failure in WAEC. “Students no longer read their books. When you see them they are on their phones playing games or chatting,” she said.
She warned that mass failure of students in Mathematics and English will continue unless students, parents, teachers and government find a lasting solution to the problems facing education in the country.

A group, Education Right Campaign ( ERC ),in their reaction  described the mass failure recorded by the West African Examination Council ( WAEC ) in this year ’s May/ June West African Senior School Certificate Examination ( WASSCE ) as a reflection of “ the anti- poor and capitalist neo – liberal policies of education , underfunding and commercialization by government at all levels ”.
The group in a statement by its National Coordinator and National Secretary, Taiwo Soweto and Michael Ogundele respectively , lamented that governments at all levels have pursued a relentless policy of starving public education of funds such that public secondary and primary schools across the country have become devastated with little or no teaching infrastructures such that no useful learning are taking place.

The group particularly put the blame for the failure on Federal
government as well as the state governors whose anti –poor education polices are mortgaging the future of the nation’s youths.
“We place the blame for this failure on the shoulders of the President Jonathan Federal Government as well as the state
Governors whose anti- poor education policies are mortgaging the future of the Nation ’s youth. “ If President Jonathan government is any serious , this recurrent mass failure should serve as a wake- up call to inject more public funds , starting with the UNESCO recommendation of at least 26 per cent of annual budget , into rehabilitating public schools and providing all the required facilities and infrastructures required in a 21 st century education sector . ”
ERC insisted that all schools must be placed under democratic management such that teachers, parents, the pupils and communities have a say in how funds are utilized and on which projects unlike the present practice where appointed school heads and principals rule with impunity.
Lagos based Educationist, Tayo Demola on the causes of mass failure of public examination in Nigeria, attributed it to the fact that students are no longer dedicated to their studies. He further maintained that some teachers are also not dedicated to teaching, adding that students should be more dedicated and take it more serious because it’s their future.
He said ’’ If you fail, you’re the one to bear the brunt, not your teacher.
Every year when WAEC or NECO results are released, it’s always poor performance. It’s always one case of mass failure or the other.
Could it be that all these people who fail actually failed these subjects or is there anything funny going on in these examination bodies? Can we say the examination script are properly marked or is there any form of compromise going on?

Some students have complained of poor grading by exam bodies such as WAEC and NECO and even JAMB. The issue of mass failure in public examinations is worrisome to everyone but this can be tackled if we know the cause of the problem. We all know that these students are the leaders of tomorrow and if their future is jeopardized, this will ultimately affect the future generation.
The scandalously poor results in the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) in May/June are clear indications of a progressive slide into the abyss by a rather uncoordinated educational system in urgent need of redemption. The affected students are products of years of decay in a key sector of the economy. The system has failed them.

The results are certainly discouraging especially for parents who may have laboured hard to see their wards through that level of education which is too important to be ignored. Yet, the phenomenon of mass failure has been a recurring feature of national life over the past decade or so. Significantly, almost all stakeholders are guilty.

public school system has suffered serious neglect, hence its near-total collapse, while most private schools only exist for the purpose of financial gains. Today, most students exhibit such a high level of ignorance and illiteracy resulting from the weak instruction that they receive and this is more the case in public schools. The downturn in the economy has also affected many homes and families; parents are so distracted they can hardly spare the time to monitor their children’s education.

Regrettably, teachers in public schools are almost always called out on strike to protest poor conditions of service. With its confusing web of policy sommersaults, government should take a lion share of the blame. Funding, at every level, is grossly inadequate. When secondary school students fail so terribly, the clear indication is that the country is reaping the harvest of its poor investment in education and the future of young Nigerians.

There is a compelling need to overhaul the system: the education sector must be better funded, policies need proper coordination, teachers’ welfare ought to be addressed, standards must be upgraded. Promotion exams should be better organised to discontinue the current practice in public schools of automatic mass movement from one class to the other. Discipline should be enforced. The government should show greater concern about teacher-education if the nation must reverse the systemic failure.