By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The District Coordinator in Kenema District for for the Free Quality Education, Abdul Karim Vangahun has on 28th May this year raised concerns over the ongoing West African Secondary School Certificate Examination(WASSCE) in that part of the country
In an interview with Politico, Vangahun described the ongoing WASSCE as relatively calm, but that there are several challenges which he believes affect the examination process.
The district coordinator expressed displeasure at absenteeism at the exams which he attributed to head teachers admitting huge number of candidates from SSSII to sit to the WASSCE, claiming some heads of schools have turned the said exam into business.
He highlighted how artificial fuel scarcity in that part of the country has affected their monitoring in especially harder to reach areas, claiming that WASSCE has lost it standards which he attributed to exam malpractice, as students don't have time to study.
Vangahun however pointed out they have not experienced any issue with regards shortage of exam materials such as question papers, or answer sheets in all the thirty -three centres in the district.
He explained how he has been monitoring the conduct of the exam within district, saying most of the centres are not ideal for hosting public exams.
The education officer recalled how before the exam they had a meeting with stakeholders from Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Teaching Service Commission, Free Quality Education Sector, Conference of Principals and WAEC, where they agreed on proper conduct of the exams.
He mentioned how he had admonished school authorities not to engage in examination malpractice, which according to him they all agreed to.
Vangahun mentioned how government is spending huge amount of resources on education, and advised that stringent measures are put in place to tackle examination malpractices.
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