Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut, the Head of National Office (HNO) at the council, announced during a media parley in Lagos on Monday that the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) first series for private candidates will be conducted using the Computer-Based Test (CBT) model. He further stated that all preparations for this new approach have been successfully completed.
He said: “We are here to give you an insight of the level of preparations so far, for the conduct of this maiden CBT examination.
“The council is aware that the news of this innovation was initially greeted with some level of resistance. This only served as fuel for the test body to forge ahead on its course to conduct the CB-WASSCE.
“The conduct of the Computer Based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for Private Candidates, 2024 First Series, will take place from Wednesday, Jan. 31 and end on Saturday, Feb. 17, in Nigeria.
“This will span a period of two weeks and four days and to this end, there is no going back as plans have therefore, been concluded for this first-ever computer-based examination, which will be delivered in hybrid mode,” he said.
The HNO highlighted that WAEC Nigeria, driven by its vision of becoming a world-class examining body and its commitment to innovation, has taken a courageous step to provide candidates with a viable alternative to the traditional Pen and Paper model of examinations.
According to him, this decision is aligned with the council’s goal of showcasing the immense potential of computer-based assessments to its stakeholders and the public.
Expanding on this, the council’s leader explained that the hybrid mode would involve presenting Objective or Multiple Choice questions on the screen, and candidates would be expected to provide their responses directly on the screen.
He said: “The Essay and Practical questions will be rendered on-screen, likewise, but candidates will be required to give their responses using the answer booklets provided.
“The council is encouraged by the acceptance of this innovation as evidenced in the number of entries received so far.
“As of today, Monday, Jan 29, a total of 8,285 candidates from across the federation have registered for the examination.
“Out of this number, 3,949 are male, representing 47.66 per cent, while 4,336 are female, representing 52.3 per cent of the total candidature.
“Candidates will be examined in 19 subjects, made up of 26 papers.
“For the successful conduct of the examination and to curb examination malpractices, carefully selected examination officials have been trained by council to serve as proctors during the conduct of the examination,” he said.
Dangut noted that WAEC in a bid to further deliver on its mandate and as a way of helping candidates, had made available, its e-learning portal with materials that would demonstrate to candidates, the requirements for the conduct of the examination.
He urged candidates to visit https://www.waeconline.org.ng/e-Learning/index.htm to access the portal.
According to him, in addition, a tutorial video on how to navigate the examination portal is available on all council’s social media platforms.
He added that candidates could also use the video to acquaint themselves with relevant information on demand and upon enquiry.
The council boss noted that the results of candidates who would sit for the examination would be released 45 days after the conduct of the last paper, while duly awarded certificates would be available on request via certrequest.waec.org.ng.
According to him, similarly, candidates can access digital copies of their certificates via the WAEC Digital Certificate portal by logging on to www.waec.org.
He noted that the CBT centres where the examination would be hosted across the nation were inspected with checklists and equipped with servers for the duration of the conduct of the examination.
He noted that trial tests were conducted across the country and a free mock examination also conducted for registered candidates on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24.
The council boss added that the final international timetable for the conduct of the examination had been made available for proper and necessary guidance to prospective candidates.
“ In addition to the wide publicity that has been given to the examination via mass media outlets, social media has also been abuzz with news of the CB-WASSCE and the modalities for the conduct.
“WAEC, being the foremost examining body, adding value to the educational goals of its stakeholders, has not rested on its oars, since the past 71 years of its existence.
“It has continued to improve its service delivery across the board by leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the dynamic industry of assessment,” he said.
