WAEC blacklists 165 schools in Kwara

West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has reportedly blacklisted 165 schools in Kwara State with N30.5 million financial penalties from the examination body.

Tribune Online gathered that the examinations were held between April 8 and May 31, 2019.

Speaking on the development, which affected 122 public secondary schools and 43 private schools, with a fine of N250,000 each, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq described the development as the worst in the
history of the state.

Governor Abdulrazaq has also threatened heavy sanctions against any school heads or officials caught aiding and abetting examination malpractices in the state.

“This administration is sad to note that WAEC has derecognised 165 schools in Kwara State because of widespread cases of cheating in the 2019 senior secondary certificate examination in which some top education officials and parents were implicated. This is very unfortunate and this administration will not hesitate to sanction any school heads or officials that ever engage in such conduct in the future,” Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said in a statement on Thursday.

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“The administration also urges parents to desist from encouraging cheating in the examination. We call on Kwarans to expose this cancer. As a result of such incidents of aiding and abetting of examination malpractices, this administration will now have to pay N30.5m of scarce public resources to get the necessary approval for the affected public schools to host WAEC examinations in the future. This is avoidable. Examination malpractice constitutes some of the worst hindrances to a bright future because it negates the time tested principles of hard work, diligence, and thirst for knowledge and excellence,” he said.

The statement said such unhealthy trend and other shortcomings in the sector explained why the government is organising an education summit in the first quarter of 2020 to discuss all the issues affecting the sector and come up with practicable roadmap and reform options.

Also, the State Commissioner for Education, Hajia Fatimah Ahmed, has warned principals of secondary schools in the state against aiding examination malpractices in their schools.

The commissioner gave the warning during his maiden meeting with schools principals in Ilorin on Thursday.

She warned that any principal caught in the act and any other acts of indiscipline would face the full wrath of the law.

“We need to address the issue of examination malpractices, we need to protect our names, we need to allow posterity to judge us well especially when we leave the service. We must do the right things and do things right,” she added.

Hajia Ahmed further charged them to be more dedicated to their duties, saying, “this time around, no excuse will be welcomed for lapses, please. All of us here must be more committed to the progress of the state because we have no any other place to go, and we must all be steadfast to salvage the state, more especially in the area of education, which is the foundation of all development.

“We must try as much as possible to be a mirror of our family, being a good reference point, a role model to the students under our cares.

“And lastly, as we all know, learning is a continuous process until when one dies, training and retraining for optimal performance should be embraced by all, it is when this is done that new ideas and innovation can be introduced. The principals can still learn more if they want to move from archaic methods of operating their schools.

“Let me conclude my address by charging you all to go back to your various schools to create a positive image of yourself, your family and the state at large. Any principal found of any sharp practices will definitely be made to face the wrath of the law as stipulated.”