MASS PASSES IN WAEC : GOOD OR BAD?

Any future for Nigeria?

This year's May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) has been released and the news concerning the results should bring smiles to our faces (not mine though). According to the Head of the Nigerian National Office, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, Over 50 per cent of the candidates that sat for the examinations obtained the required Five (5) credits required for progress into the nations' higher institutions. This news might seem a bright one at first glance, BUT IS THIS REALLY GOOD NEWS?


The rate of Malpractice in Nigerian schools is currently at an all time high. The schools are in a competition to ensure that their wards get better grades than their competitors' and so they put in every effort - I mean EVERY effort - to actualize their aims. Nowadays students are expected to pay outrageous sums as WAEC fees that is sometimes over five times the amount required by WAEC. Which student would not expect better "services" after paying such fees for the examinations?

So there are Mass Passes in WAEC, And Then? Does that mean that our students are getting better? Actually it means the opposite. Our students are infact getting worse. Funny thing is the students are not to blame. Rather it is the owners of the many private secondary schools scattered around the country who are only concerned about their businesses that should be blamed. Teachers write answers to WAEC questions on the board for the students to copy. ON THE BOARD!!!

These blatant actions of malpractices are reflective of the spate of decay of Nigeria as a whole. Even parents are supportive of these actions by the schools as long as their children get excellent grades. Today a student with all A's could as well just be a dullard with a fine handwriting and an ability to copy with speed. This is the new face of Nigeria's Education and it is an Ugly Face. But what can we do about it?

If you decide to desist from malpractice, then you are in a danger of having a good result (at least) but one that doesn't compare to what majority of students have obtained.This is a dilema for the morally sound student. What to do? I really do not know. I think that is why I am not the President or the Minister of Education. What I do know is that The more we record "Mass" Passes in WAEC, The more the country is Sinking into the Abyss of ...... Whatever!