President of National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Mr Angel Carbonu, has disclosed that the Association will not countenance the actions of members who engaged in the leakage of examination questions.
According to him, such persons will be dealt with per the dictates of the law. Mr Carbonu explained that such leakages put the future of students, as far as their “international relevance” is concerned, in jeopardy.
The NAGRAT President established the fact that the situation is very embarrassing “and it compromises the integrity of our exam”. He noted that the “unfortunate thing” is WAEC has been experiencing this for “several years”. As such, Mr Carbonu admitted that it seems the West Africa Examination Council, does not have the “capacity to reinvent itself”.
“In the first place, we have stated that anyone found culpable… will be dealt with according to law without favour. We will not come to the aid of a member found to have engaged him[self] or herself in examination malpractices.
“We have established a nationwide regional conference and everywhere I went I told the teachers one thing: That you are not to engage West Africa Examination as a result of compulsion; you participate in the exam at your own whims and caprices. Therefore, if you fail to abide by the rules and regulations stated… you have yourself to blame. So, if any teacher… goes his or her way to engage in anything untoward, I expect the state apparatus to seek that teacher and deal with that teacher according to law”.
Mr Angel Carbonu
Resolving issues of leakages
Mr Carbonu explained that incidences of leakages are not largely recorded in terms of “foreign exams” in other countries. He buttressed his point, further insisting that “never have we heard that any of these papers have leaked”. Following this, Mr Carbonu described the leakages at an “embarrassing level”, one which has become a problem for the country.
“So, what is the problem with WAEC? Last year, even the names and telephone numbers of examiners were in the public domain. Yet, the West Africa Examination Council just does a save-facing [pretence] of finding solutions… So, for me, the fundamental problem is that the institution conducting the exam itself has a fundamental problem of incapability of handling the examination at this level where technology is rife”.
Mr Angel Carbonu
In highlighting the way forward, Mr Carbonu revealed that as a nation, we “ought to begin questioning ourselves”.
“We should maintain our relationship with WAEC the way we have it as at today. One thing is that, if the ‘apor’ or question are available, it will be difficult to prevent students… so the solution will be to make [them] unavailable, then the student will not have a choice than to go present himself and write the exam… But right now, the leaked questions are available and they can always be available from the source which is [WAEC]”.
Mr Angel Carbonu
He advised that the issue of leakage of examination questions is a phenomenon “we should all turn our attentions to”.
“By the 8th of this month, the exam should be over. All of us will keep quiet and we’ll all go to sleep. Next year, the situation rears its head again and we’ll come back talking the same way we are talking”.
Mr Angel Carbonu
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