Is WASSCE Still Relevant?

No, big time; I think it is now irrelevant. Once upon a time, WASSCE was a venerated hurdle to be crossed in the acquisition of the O’level certificate, a time when students had reduced priorities, when libraries ran short of oxygen during the day and the classrooms warmed by candles and lanterns at night, when books were better safeguarded than money. But that’s just what it was; once upon a time…
WASSCE has lost a great deal of her bloom and bounce as regards her indirect coercion of students to work/study harder and has now paved a gateway for laziness and corruption to thrive. It has gotten so ugly that even our school management now term malpractice as ‘aid’ to students….. What a shame.
Why do I seem lost in my flow of thoughts? The trend now in vogue gives me headache so much that I find it difficult to congratulate a successful WASSCE candidate. Let’s observe the following:
Our higher institutions clearly stipulate that without possessing a minimum of five credits in WASSCE etal (English and Mathematics inclusive) we don’t get to see their school gates, but we have undergraduates and graduates who find it difficult to spell their own names! Check their WAEC result, English is B2! In mathematics, the simplest of simplified problems in simultaneous equations may not even be understood by an A1 carrier not to talk of making an attempt to solve it. On and on it goes and I beg the government to question, what’s the essence?
The annoying chapter that gets to me is the manner WAEC is now painting its empty vessel of an examination with gold. The fees are ever soaring at a rate indirectly proportional to the substance WASSCE now bears and I wonder why everyone is cool with it. Of course the standard of the exams isn’t the issue here, and we also know that not everyone cheats in the examinations. But what’s the ratio of the ideal to reality?
When Nigerians pay billions of naira annually to obtain one nicely printed paper that adds no value to the nation, then I see no better definition of waste. Imagine, WAEC is even recently threatening not to release the no-longer-credible result in some states owing four billion naira!
Part of my bewilderment now is the demand for certification in the first place. Back then when certificates were certificates, everyone knew what it meant and took to acquire one. But now, nobody gives a bloody damn to whatever you hold in your hands. I mean, if certification were to be what it is, I wouldn’t have to be superfluously interviewed, interrogated, whipped, bathed and everything when applying for a job. A careful look at my certificate should have spoken enough.
Since we now live in a country where many certificates are no longer regarded irrespective of their high demand due to lack of trust in the credibility of the issuer and the handler, why then waste so much in acquiring them when the fact remains that our knowledge on the subject matter will be our saving grace in the long run?
It is true there are still a few certificates that beg no question whenever they are being brought to table, but for something like WASSCE, I move for the motion that it be completely scraped out of our curriculum or overhauled.
If you were to ask me what the economic importance of WASSCE in Nigeria is now, I will say that it provides job for many of her citizens as well as indirectly assist laziness and corruption to bloom. Many students without focus are no longer motivated to study knowing well that on the day of atonement, mercy will triumph over judgment. Why would they stress themselves in acquiring the required sacrificial items when the dibia has made provision for a simpler alternative?
I’m not saying that WAEC is solely responsible for the current decay in our educational system; I’m only trying to bring to her notice the need to collaborate with the ministry of education to resuscitate her dying glory.
It’s high time we begin questioning why we do certain things in this country especially when the intended results are no longer forthcoming. God bless Nigeria.