We Are Not Considering Adoption Of Computer-Based Examinations – WAEC

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced that it is not considering the adoption of a Computer-Based Test mode for its examinations.

This was made known by its Head, National Office, Mr Charles Eguridu, while speaking with pressmen on Thursday in Abuja.

Eguridu explained that it would amount to intellectual dishonesty for him to say that the council would introduce CBT in the next five years or in the near future, adding that the purpose of education is to prepare people for life, not to pass examinations; hence the need to examine different domains which CBT cannot accommodate.

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Eguridu said; “There is what we call the cognitive domain; that is what you have learnt that you can put in your head,

“There is also what we call affective domain that has to do with your emotions,

“There is also what we call the psychomotor domain that is skills which you can express using your hands and your body,

“I am yet to see any education expert who will tell you that you can measure the psychomotor domain using CBT,

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“Any test that will use computer to evaluate who will be a good carpenter cannot be a valid test.”
He said the examinations conducted by the council took into cognizance the three domains that measured ability to recall, apply and practicalise.

Eguridu said that even Netherlands where people went to learn CBT had yet to apply CBT in all its examinations.

He said, “In Netherlands which people emulate in CBT, they have not been able to migrate 40 per cent.
“How many schools in Nigeria have hardware? How many schools in Nigeria have the facilities to have those computers?

“There is the additional problem of electricity and internet connectivity.

“What JAMB is doing is commendable because theirs is an admission test; it is a certification examination.”

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According to him, WAEC was using specialised gadgets in detecting examination malpractice. He said the device had ability to transmit any irregularity to its data base in Lagos.

He said that the council had started encrypting the data of candidates in their results to avoid falsification, while adding that WAEC has not had any issue of examination leakages in the past five years.

The WAEC chief however urged the owing states to pay up their debts in order to keep the council running.

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