Governor Abdullahi Sule has urged the Nigeria national committee of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to intensify efforts to curb examination malpractice.

The Nasarawa governor spoke at the council’s 61st annual meeting of the WAEC committee on Thursday in Lafia.

He said the body must not rest on its laurels in evolving strategies and initiatives to reduce such malpractice drastically.

According to him, examination malpractice has been a major challenge bedevilling the education sector and must be tackled as quickly as possible to safeguard the future of Nigerian youths.

Mr Sule said, “Education will forever remain the best legacy to bequeath to the children and youth of Nasarawa State especially, as well as the only veritable tool of socio-economic development of the state and nation at large.

“I am indeed happy to note that despite the myriad of challenges plaguing the education sector in Nigeria, the council has remained a symbol of success in the promotion of quality education. It has also remained a symbol of success in regional cooperation among the English-speaking countries of the sub-region.”

The Nasarawa governor added, “Indeed, our administration has been striving hard to put in place a proper and sustainable foundation for the education sector by providing qualitative and affordable education to the youth and accommodating the challenges faced by children with special needs in our state.”

The governor stated that his government would continue to provide an enabling environment for education to thrive for children in both primary and secondary schools in Nasarawa. He urged parents to participate in the educational development of their wards.

“Having said this, I wish you to also permit me to seize this opportunity to congratulate the management and staff of WAEC on the commissioning of its ultra-modern WAEC Lafia office complex,” he explained. “It gladdens my heart that the parcel of land my administration bequeathed to the council in 2019 now houses a tastefully built state-of-the-art edifice.”

Amos Josiah Dangut, the head of WAEC’s national office, reiterated the council’s plans to migrate its West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates, from the “paper-pencil test” to the computer-based test mode come February 2024.

According to him, the development is in line with global best practices.

Mr Dangut said, “The innovation will commence with WASSCE for private candidates, 2024, first series, which is slated to hold in February. While the objective tests will be fully computer-based, the essay and test of practical papers will be hybrid, in which the examination questions will be delivered on screen.

“Accordingly, candidates will be required to write answers on the answer booklets given to them.”

Mr Dangut reassured of the council’s commitment to continue to deliver its mandate of being Africa’s foremost examination body, adding value to the educational goals of its stakeholders.

(NAN)