WAEC Concerned About Rate Of Failure

The National Head of the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, in Nigeria, Mr. Charles Egurudu, has said the body was distressed by the failure of candidates that write its examinations.

Speaking at the award-giving ceremony to the best three Benue State schools in the 2011 WAEC examinations in Makurdi yesterday, Egurudu maintained that Nigeria’s standard of education had not fallen.

“We feel sad when students don’t do well in our examinations, but this does not translate to a fall in the standard of education in the country because it is not true.

“There is, however, the need for students, teachers and stakeholders alike to redouble their efforts to ensure improvement in teaching and learning in schools to enable us overcomes the challenge.

“I also want to use this opportunity to state categorically that I never stated that there was mass failure in 2014 WAEC examination. All I said was that there was a slight decline in the number of students who passed when compared to previous results,” he said.

He said the council had taken steps to improve the conduct of its examinations with the introduction of new innovations like the walk-in examination and the introduction of free distribution of high quality customised mathematical set for use by its candidates during exams.

In Addition, Chief Anthony Nwadike a member of the Board of Trustees, BOT, of the WAEC endowment fund, said the council was working according to global trends by creating an endowment fund to encourage hard work and excellence among students.

Speaking, Benue State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Elizabeth Ugo, lauded WAEC for being consistent and steadfast in its responsibilities over the years.

The outstanding Schools in Benue that received the awards included Mount Carmel Comprehensive Secondary School Otukpo, which received books worth $2,500 for coming tops in WAEC examination in the state while Bethel International College, Gboko and Anglican Secondary School received $1,500 and $1,000 worth of books for emerging second and third respectively.