The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has urged the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to either dump the idea of conducting the forthcoming West African Senior School Certificate Examinations with the help of the internet and a computer-assisted facility or make it optional.
Recall that the Head of National Office, Mr Patrick Areghan had in September last year disclosed plans to introduce the Computer Based Test mode in the conduct of West African Senior School Certificate Examinations noting that it had gotten to an advanced stage .
The AYCF has however argued that such a mode of examination, if allowed, will result in mass failure for students in the northern states, particularly in rural areas where computer skills are scarce or completely absent.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the National President of AYCF, Yerima Shettima, who said this in a statement he issued in Kaduna on Friday, asserted that the CBT exams should have been optional, allowing candidates to choose between the traditional pen-and-paper format and the computer-based approach.
This, he argued, would allow students to opt for the format that they are most comfortable with and capable of attempting successfully.
Shettima added that research conducted by the Forum in selected northern states such as Zamfara, Jigawa, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Plateau, revealed that the CBT exams had consistently led to mass failure among students attending public schools, where computer skills are often not taught.
‘Even the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board CBT exams have placed underprivileged students in a predicament as they struggle to answer questions in a format they are unfamiliar with.
Many students who failed the CBT-based JAMB exams last year argued that their failures were as a result of systemic failures, including insufficient facilities or network failures during the exams. Additionally, a lack of proper and adequate computer skills, coupled with outdated desktop computers that are not properly maintained by CBT centers further exacerbate the situation’ the statement said.
The group noted that this call became imperative to prevent mass failure among students who deserve fair and equal opportunities for success-Team@orientactualmags.com
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