WAEC to begin electronic marker with Nov/Dec WASSCE

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says it has introduced e-marker in the assessment of theoretical questions. With this development marking of this set of questions will no longer be manual, but will be done electronically.

The project, outfit says is scheduled, to begin with, the ongoing November/December West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Revealing this yesterday during a meeting with the leadership of the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN), the body of education correspondents in the country, the Head of Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Mr. Olutise Adenipekun, at a meeting with the leadership of the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN), yesterday, said as a result of the development, candidates no longer take their theory questions home after their examinations, as answer booklets are now combined with the question papers.

According to Adenipekun, the adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the conduct of the examination, is aimed not only at ensuring near perfection but to also lead globally in the area of examination integrity.

He, however, added that the development does not mean that teachers whom the body engages in the traditional marking method will be dropped, stressing that they would still be engaged to handle the electronic-marking project.

“We are providing services and the people we are providing the services for are youths of the country, and youths naturally are restless. So they also want to see new things.

“If you assess well today, you will build the nation because the youths of today will find themselves in several positions of leadership in the future,” he said.

He promised that the WAEC template of assessing candidates will remain the same, adding that it will not be in the interest of Nigeria to lower the standard of the examination, for whatever reason.

Adenipekun commended the association for its foresight and contributions to national growth and development through quality reports.

Chairman of EWAN, Mr. Tunbosun Ogundare, expressed appreciation to WAEC for extending its hands of fellowship to the association, while also pledging the commitment of the body to improved education sector coverage, towards achieving the required reforms in the sector.

He also appealed to WAEC management to always extend training and other collaborative programmes to the association’s members, as a way of enhancing their knowledge of the education sector, saying such support would ultimately help the beneficiaries in the discharge of their responsibilities.