Land of fraud: WAEC questions, answers on facebook hours to exams

Few days into the West Africa Examination Council Examinations, therate of malpractice has taken a new dimension as questions with prepared answers are posted on social networking site, facebook, for candidates to see hours to the examination.

Our correspondent visited the facebook page and discovered one of the papers that was written a day before had been released about two hoursto the exam by the operator of the page.

Two students of a senior secondary school in Yaba (names withheld) who were also writing the exams, told our correspondent that aside the facebook page, their colleagues get SMS alert of answers in the examhall.

Rumoured NECO scapping: More questions

Workers at the Minna, Niger State headquarters of the National Examination Council, on Thursday, appealed to the Federal Government not to scrap the examination body.

Although The Education Minister, Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, has said she was yet to be  informed on any plan to scrap the National Examination Council (NECO) and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), some pertinent questions have arisen;

1. Britain is not up to half the size of Nigeria and it has about eight examination bodies. How then can Nigeria have only examination body?

2.Why lump NECO with the West African Examination Council? WAEC does not belong to Nigeria, so what does the country stand to gain by handing over structures of NECO to WAEC?

3. How possible is it for WAEC, or any examination body for that matter, to organise one SSCE in November and organise another one two months later, when they have not released the result of the one conducted in November?.

4. Again, we should not be in a hurry to forget when Nigerian candidates suffered untold hardship in the hands of WAEC, which led to the birth of NECO.

5. What happens to all the workers at NECO? Will they all be absorbed by WAEC

Nigeria: NECO and UTME to be scrapped.

The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to scrap the National Examination Council.Plans have also been concluded to cancel the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) being conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board for applicants into the nation's tertiary institutions.JAMB will however not be scrapped.

Under the new arrangement, in place of UTME, authorities of all tertiary institutions would now be at liberty to conduct their entrance examinations as they had been doing for post-UTME.JAMB will however serve as a clearing house."JAMB will now be a clearing house like Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in the UK. If somebody gains admission into three universities and holds down space, immediately such person picks his first choice, JAMB's system will automatically free the remaining two slots for other applicants.

"JAMB will no longer conduct examinations but it will be setting the standard alongside the schools authorities,"

WAEC haven absorbed staffs and properties of NECO, will also be empowered to conduct two Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations per year, one in January and the other probably in December.

Hitherto, only one November/December SSCE Examination is being conducted.The May/June Senior Secondary Certificate Examination being organised by the examination body once in a year still stands.

Wonderful: Osun Government gives Secondary School students, computer tablets

The government of Osun state on Tuesday commenced the distribution of free computer tablets otherwise known as ‘Opon Imo’ (tablet of knowledge) to students in the state’s Senior Secondary Schools.

The distribution kicked off at Ataoja School of Science in Osogbo, the state capital, where about 387 students in SS 2  were given the mobile device.The ‘Opon Imo’ contains apps such e-book library, integrated test zone and 17 virtual classroom subjects to enhance e-learning for the students.The tablet with its technology enhanced learning platform  is expected to complement efforts of the teachers and students for better performance in learning and teaching.

Opon Imo also contains past questions and additional traditional subjects, as well as the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) syllabuses. Elated students and teachers admitted that the Opon Imo will go a long way in preparing the students for external examinations.The government has said the learning device would be given to students in SS 1 to SS 3 in all its secondary schools.