The West African Examinations Council has inaugurated the Walk-in-Candidates initiative for candidates sitting for its examinations.
The Head, National Office of WAEC Nigeria, Mr. Charles Eguridu, unveiled this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists in Lagos.
According to him, the initiative is for private candidates sitting for the council’s November/December.
The move, he said, had commenced with the ongoing registration for the November/December examination.
Unfolding the modalities for the concept, Eguridu explained that interested candidates could access the facility by visiting any of the council’s zonal or branch offices with their passport photographs and registration fee of N25, 000. Hitherto, normal registration for the examination was N11, 400.
“The council has been under pressure from stakeholders to extend registration following the outcome of the May/June examination. Those who have challenges in their results now have the opportunity to register for another examination.
Eguridu, while noting that the initiative was a flexible one, said it offered candidates the opportunity to register “not later than the day of the paper they intend to sit.”
On the cost, the HNO stated that it was reasonable, considering the logistics involved in the process.
He said, “It is not so costly. It is also not a punitive measure. Before now, we had penalty of N10, 000 for candidates who failed to register within the stipulated time. This move is going to be an additional responsibility for us. The cost of conducting examination in the country is enormous. The cost of printing materials, certificates, checking malpractice, and paying examiners is huge and this explains why the government subsidizes the council’s activities.
“If we want our children to have quality education, we need to pay for it. You cannot make an omelet without breaking an egg.
Meanwhile, Eguridu, while announcing the result of the 2014 May/June last week, inaugurated the “Candidates Identity Verification, Attendance, Malpractice and Post Examinations Management System” and the council’s customised mathematical set.
According to him, the target of these fresh moves is to have credible, standard, and fraud free examinations.
He had said, “With effect from May/June 2014 WASSCE, the council introduced a device known as Candidates Identity Verification, Attendance, Malpractice and Post Examinations Management System. This ICT-driven device enables supervisors and staff of the council on duty, to address and record the processes in real time, on the day of the examination.
“These include identity verification, capturing and recording occurrences as they happen, such as candidates’ attendance and examination malpractice and transmit the same to our data base. With this, the council is able to generate valid examination reports for each examination centre.”
With the introduction of the mathematical set, Eguridu urged candidates not to enter the examination halls with unapproved calculators.
He declared, “The council, beginning with the November/December 2014 WASSCE, in order to maintain uniformity, guard against malpractice and improve standards, has designed and is introducing customized, transparent mathematical sets, with in-built non-programmable scientific calculators, which conform to the rules and regulations of its examinations.
“Therefore, all prospective candidates, both the May/June and November/December WASSCE diets, should note that, henceforth, bringing in any other non-approved mathematical set or calculator into examination halls would not be allowed. Models of the WAEC-customised mathematical set would be made available to schools to assist them in preparing their candidates for the council’s examinations.”
Following the release of the result last week, no fewer than 1,163,010 candidates had their chances of securing university admission in the country dashed as they failed to obtain the basic entry requirement.
To secure admission to the nation’s university, a candidate must obtain credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
Eguridu had announced that only 529,425 of the 1, 692, 435 candidates, who sat the examination, obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
