Editorial

WASSCE: Zamfara, Sokoto’s non-presentation of candidates

RECENTLY, the head of Nigeria’s national office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr. Patrick Areghan, revealed that Sokoto and Zamfara states had not presented any student from their public schools for this year’s May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). Areghan, who made the disclosure during a news conference in Lagos, expressed surprise at the development. He claimed that he could not get a definite answer from the two states on their course of action. With the development, over 50,000 SS3 students across the two states have been denied participation in the examination. The examination, which started on May 16, is expected to come to a close on June 23.

Although both WAEC and the two states tried to downplay the matter, some of the underlying details soon emerged. For instance, the Sokoto State government accused WAEC of commercialising its examinations, while the examination body charged the state with failure to abide by its rules. Said the Sokoto State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Bello Guiwa: “In 2021, we had problems with the continuous assessment scores of our candidates that were uploaded on the WAEC portal. I personally took the pain to engage WAEC. But WAEC deliberately frustrated our efforts by charging us all manner of fees. I don’t believe WAEC is a business organisation but an examination body that should be concerned with the future of the candidates.” This development, he said, forced the state to opt for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the National Technical Certificate Examination conducted by the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB). But WAEC accused the state of pulling down the entire continuous assessment scores (CASS) of its candidates during registration, and failing to pay the mandatory N100,000 fine for public schools in the state. It noted that it had to pay its technical partners who usually charged fees for their services.

With regard to Zamfara, WAEC said that the state had a backlog of N1.6 billion in unpaid fees for 2019, 2020 and 2021, and so it could not allow its candidates to sit the examination. It said it only registered the state’s candidates last year following the intervention of some notable Nigerians and the assurances that the state government would pay up its debt. It confirmed that the results of students who sat for its examinations since 2019 had not been released.

To say the least, it is unfortunate that due to no fault of theirs, students of public schools in Zamfara and Sokoto states are not participating in this year’s WASSCE. Willy-nilly, their options have become limited by that development. No doubt, the development is bound to create psychological problems for the otherwise eligible candidates as they find their counterparts in the private secondary schools leaving home to take part in the examination. Besides, given the challenges of youth restiveness and crime confronting the country, it cannot be good news that Zamfara and Sokoto SS3 students are being forced to stay home when they should ideally be in examination halls for the sake of their future. To be sure, the two state governments have registered their students for the NECO and NABTEB examinations which are also standard public examinations set up by law and recognised by the country’s institutions of higher learning, but the fact is that there is a subsisting, unresolved conflict between them and WAEC. That conflict is, we daresay, not in the best interest of anyone. It should be resolved. WAEC and the two state governments ought to be partners in progress, not antagonists. The relationship between the states and WAEC, NECO and NABTEB should be devoid of rancour.

Since rules are made for people and not vice versa, WAEC ought to have been a little more diplomatic in its approach to the Sokoto State government’s complaint about its continuous assessment scores (CASS) hitches. It was, to say the very least, rather offensive to assume that the state deliberately created problems to gain unfair advantage in the examination. On the other hand, having entered into an arrangement with WAEC, the Zamfara and Sokoto State governments should have done everything within their powers to fulfill their financial obligations to it. As an examining body, WAEC has contractual obligations that it must fulfill, and treating the payment of examination fees with levity amounts to impeding its work. Besides, it is galling that the two states had issues with WAEC, yet did not leave the option open for willing parents to register their children for the examination. If the government cannot pay, surely parents can and should.

We urge the Zamfara and Sokoto State governments to resolve whatever differences they have with WAEC forthwith. They should do everything they can to advance the education narrative in their domains.

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