Mixed reactions trail WASSCE mass failure

Some Nigerians on Friday expressed mixed
reactions on the 70 per cent mass failure in
the May/June West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.
A cross section of Nigerians, who spoke
with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN in
Abuja, attributed the failure to non-
charlatan attitude by students, teachers
and the government.
Prof. Chris Okoro, the Commissioner for
Education, Enugu State, attributed the mass
failure to poor reading culture by students.
“Students no longer read because they
know they can engage in examination
malpractice. So, how do you think they can
pass the examinations?
“If you look at that result critically, you will
find out that a good number of the failures
must have participated in examination
malpractices,’’ he said.
Okoro said the mass failure could also be
attributed to lack of proper coordination by
the students during the exercise.
“Some of the students forget they are
writing examination and start writing the
ways they text GSM messages.’’
He said the Federal Government had been
doing a lot to improve the education system
through   funding, training, provision of
structures, among others.
“It is time for stakeholders, such as the
students, teachers, and parents, among
others, to take responsibility for their
actions,’’ okoro said.
He advised that anybody found involved in
examination malpractice should be
sanctioned.
Mr Lawal Adebola, a senior official in the
Ministry of Education, Ogun, also attributed
the mass failure to lack of commitment
from students, teachers and parents.
“We cannot blame specific group for the
mass failure, it is a collective responsibility,
we are all guilty and we need to look for a
way out to solve the problem.
“We need to work further to ensure that
students at that level are well catered for
by the government, by the system, the
school and teachers.‘’
Adebola said there was need for the re-
orientation of the students to actually know
why they were in school and the essence
of WAEC certificate.
Mrs Elizabeth Ugo, the Commissioner for
Education, Benue State, said the mass
failure could be linked to ‘unserious
attitude’ of students.
Ugo called on teachers to ensure that
students were prepared with the required
syllabus for them to do better in the future.
“We need to sit up and do much more in
preparing the students for terminal
examinations.
“Many children today do not read but spend
so much time on the internet. We have to
imbibe the culture of reading in our
children,’’ she advised.