Dangut: How Stakeholders Can Help Curb Exam Malpractices

In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, the new Head of the National Office, West African Examinations Council, Dr. Amos Dangut, explained the steps taken by the council to deploy technology for the successful conduct of computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates and plans to engage with the government to provide the enabling environment to be deployed in schools. He also explained why all stakeholders, including parents, must rise to their responsibilities to stamp out examination malpractices

Since assuming office, your first assignment was to ensure the conduct of the computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates. What is your assessment of the exam?

It wasn’t our first time conducting a computer-based test. We used it for our recruitment process. We have an aptitude test department which has also tested some applicants in certain organisations using that method. We have WASSCE in two diets: for private and school candidates. It is the first time we were deploying Cb-WASSCE for private candidates in large scale testing of that nature in this part of the world. I am not aware that any other African country has deployed it in this type of examination. As the leading examination body, with the help of God and dedicated staff who were enthusiastic, we were able to achieve it. It was exciting. It gave us a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment because over the years, we have been strategising, hopeful and waiting for the day when we will actually deploy it. We actually deployed it in the first series of the WASSCE held between January 31 and February 17. The experience was very good, and the process was seamless, and we could see the enthusiasm everywhere. It had the real semblance of what an examination should be. When you are looking at the conduct of the exam, you are looking at a standardised exam which will start simultaneously everywhere. All the venues were air-conditioned, and the candidates wrote the exam in a conducive atmosphere. When you have a standard exam environment, it brings out the best from the candidates. 

Were there any challenges?

All the examination centres accredited by the management team met the stringent criteria. There were either laptops or desktops with inverters and generators. So we had power supply. There were no instances across the country that had any challenges.

With the feat you achieved with the private candidates, do you plan to extend the same initiative to school candidates, and do you see other West African countries taking after what you have done?

The examination is terminal for candidates who have completed their secondary school and want to make up for the exam. I have gone to several forums, seminars, workshops and conferences where some other examining bodies are also warming up to adopt the same initiative. Ours really started a long way back, and we had a lot of time for preparation. On whether it will be deployed to school candidates, we don’t really have control of that field because candidates are owned and controlled by the government. 

The government provide the environment for teaching and learning, including the equipment. For instance, in the CB-WASSCE that we conducted, we provided all equipment. For the school candidates, the government and school owners will have to equip the environment with facilities for such exams. WAEC helps in developing education standards wherever we operate. We have just finished conducting this exam. The report is on my table. We are going to distil it. We play an advisory role to education stakeholders. We are planning to engage with the government and we are going to discuss with them our experience with the private candidates exam and encourage them to provide the enabling environment to be deployed in schools. Until they give the assurance and the go-ahead, we can’t do that for school candidates. 

When are you hoping to release the result of the WASSCE?

We have a policy that from the date of the last examination, the results will be released 45 days after the conduct. As part of the dividends of technology, processing will be easier and faster. What we did diminished occurrences of examination malpractices. By the time we collate instances of irregularities, you will find out that there will be a significant decrease in malpractice. Another feature of this exam is that the time we process greatly diminishes. So rather than have 45 days to release the results, we are going to do it within a shorter period. We are looking at 30 to 35 days to release the results compared to the 45 days when we were doing pen and paper. We are a technology-driven organisation, and as we speak, we are trying to churn out more innovations. 

What plans do you have towards improving teaching, learning and quality of assessment?

The good thing about it is that we do an assessment of learning and that of education. We assess how much you have learnt and the skills such that you can consider assessment as learning. So you can either do the assessment for learning or as learning. What we do itself is helping teaching and learning. In the process, teaching and learning are developed and strengthened. For instance, when a student is being assessed, in the process, he or she is learning. The teachers involved in the assessment are also building their capacity. So what we do is helping stakeholders in the education sector to improve. We also deliberately offer capacity building for secondary school teachers and lecturers in the university system three times in a year. We coordinate them before they start marking our exams. The capacity building workshop is aimed at refreshing them on what to mark. We also hold specialised training for them. The government or schools invite us to train their teachers in the aspect of delivery in the art of assessment. 

Does the training also involve curbing examination malpractices?

We train the examiners who mark our exams on how to detect and report malpractices for appropriate sanctions. Another way of curbing examination malpractices that is potent, is sensitisation, because we found out that some students don’t even know what constitute malpractice. Although legally, ignorance is not an excuse. At many of our forums, we talked about examination malpractices, on our website, we sensitised against it. We have published on our syllabuses what constitutes malpractice and how to stay out of it. We also sensitised schools, teachers and parents. We do it at many forums including organising road walk shows as well as media. However, we are limited in reaching every candidate, that is why we also engage teachers and principals to carry it to their various schools. Unfortunately, some teachers or principals just get the document containing the information and go to sleep, and at the end of the day, the students cheat. It beats my imagination that those who we have adequately sensitised directly, are recalcitrant and still cheat. I know that if parents really teach and educate their children in the right way, we won’t have examination malpractices. So we keep resting in the hope that parents and all stakeholders will rise to their responsibilities. 

Would you say that there has been a drop in the reading culture?

I would say there is a metamorphosis of the reading culture. In those days, you can only sit down and begin to read but today, you read everywhere. So the reading culture to me, is more in terms of using gadgets, but when you talk about carrying the traditional book to read, yes, there is a reduction in reading culture. 

How many states are currently owing WAEC?

We had a challenge with two states. However, they are already redeeming their debts. What is left is not much. We are already recovering our debt.

A former commissioner of education in the northern part of the country said paying WASSCE fees for students was a waste of resources because their students were not doing well in the exams. What is your take on this?

Proper planning prevents poor performance, so also, if you don’t plan well, you plan to fail. Was it all students in the state that failed? What happened to students who passed? Was it all schools that failed? For you to be able to tell whether they are doing well or not, it’s garbage in, garbage out. When you have not put anything in the heads of the students, what will be the result? So, for anyone to say students don’t do well, I believe that they should go back to the drawing board. It is not only in WASSCE that people fail, they also fail in all sorts of exams including internal exams, but I will tell you that WASSCE is a desired product. It has the international trademark on it. People who prepare, do well. Schools that do their work well pass. Governments that encourage proper teaching and learning with right facilities, do excellently well. Many state governments in the past who say they would not take WAEC exams again, have come back and are paying. So, there is no state government today that has barred its students from writing our exam. All states, including the FCT, are presenting their students.

What is the way forward for WAEC?

We are in the 21st century. We are always moving ahead of time. We look for ways that will ensure access and help the development of the nation.