The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) commenced its maiden Computer Based Test (CBT) format for WASSCE private candidates.
The examination commenced on the 31st of January and will be concluded on the 17th of February, 2024. The council’s Head of National Office (HNO), Dr Amos Josiah Dangut stated this while monitoring the examination in some centres in Lagos.
Recall that Nairametrics had reported the council’s readiness to conduct the maiden edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE ) first series for private candidates, using the CBT platform.
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Curbing examination malpractice
Dr. Dangut said that prior to the introduction of the CBT, the contents of the examination were usually let out before the test through some mischief makers who might have a role to play during the examination.
- “So, I think with the introduction of this CBT, the issue of candidates having foreknowledge before the commencement of the examination will largely have been eliminated. It can no longer be business as usual.
- “The major avenue, source of leakage, where we used to have supervisors carry these question papers from one point to the other will no longer obtain.
- “When I say leakage, I mean the tearing of the bag containing the examination questions and sneaking out one. So, with this new concept, this will never happen.
- “Again, you can see with the sitting arrangements that the candidates are also separated with cubicles that will not enable them to engage in any form of examination malpractice, coupled with the fact that they have to be dealing with different subjects at the point in time,” he said.
He remarked that the systems are top-notch, with zero hitches recorded since the commencement of the examination.
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About the Computer-Based Test (CBT)
According to Dr. Dangut, the examination is being conducted simultaneously across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the WAEC Test and Training Centre (WTTC) at Ogba as one of the 10 centres being used for the examination in Lagos.
He also mentioned that the council had made thorough preparations, conducted extensive sensitization, and allowed candidates to familiarize themselves with the process before the exam.
As the exam involved computer devices which runs on power, the council had arranged two alternative power sources independent of public supply for the computer systems.
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Walk-in candidates
He also highlighted that the exam allowed walk-in candidates.
- He said, “We have about 8,350 candidates sitting for this examination as of today because we have the opportunity for people who want to register and start their examination the next day.
- “We call such candidates ‘walk-in candidates’ and because of that too, the entry keeps going up every day.
- “Candidates who would want to sit for a paper on Monday are doing their registration today. They will have to register at least 24 hours before the commencement of the paper they intend to be examined on,” he said.
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Hybrid exam format
On the format of the CBT, Dr. Dang it said,
- “We have said right from the onset that this is a hybrid examination. The objective questions are beamed on the screen and are answered on the screen.
- “But for essay, just like this general Mathematics paper 2, you will find out that have answer booklet provided for them where they are expected to do their calculations but the questions too are beamed on the screen. That is what makes it hybrid mode”.
He concluded by saying that the results of the examination were expected to be out 45 days after the last paper, and there are plans to go back to the drawing board to strategise for the second series.