Mass failure in WASSCE! So what?

The May/June 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results were as revealing as they were astounding in exposing the nakedness of the future of Nigeria.


 Check the statistics: total number of candidates registered -1,705,976; total number of candidates who sat for the exams-1,692,435; total number of candidates with full results-1,605,613; total number of candidates with outstanding results- 86,822 (5.13%); total number of candidates with six credits and above-791,227 (46.75%); total number of candidates with five credits and above including English and Mathematics-529,425 (31.28%). Mass failure! How do you make a nation great with a failed youth population?

I checked the statistics above and wondered aloud who should carry the can of this national calamity. A friend said his niece, who is among the 1,426,926 (84.31%) that scored two credits blamed WAEC for her loss. “The markers were wicked,” she told my friend who laughed while informing the girl that WAEC had a fool-proof process of ensuring quality, justice and fairness in the script marking process. In any case, there has been no such report of mass failure and buck passing in other West African countries where WAEC also operates. My friend then called my attention to a heart-rending story in the Saturday Tribune of two days ago. The story, authored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) explained very clearly why you and I should have cause to fear for the future. Right from the title, the chill should be more than that felt when confronted with a confirmed Ebola case: “I’ll rather win a reality show than win a school competition.”
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“My daughter once said it is even better to win one of these reality shows than win a school competition, where, all you’ll get at the end of the day are exercise books, or a miserly amount for scholarship,’’ a parent was quoted to have shamelessly declared in that report which also added the voice of a named student: “Instead of punishing myself to pass in WASSCE, I’ll rather register for these reality shows where I can make instant money.

“If not that my parents are forcing me to go to school, I won’t go; after all, those that have graduated are not doing any better and the reason for going to school is to succeed.’’ And the report quoted a senior official in the Ministry of Education of Ogun State attributing the mass failure to lack of commitment from students, teachers and parents.

“We cannot blame a specific group for the mass failure, it is a collective responsibility. We are all guilty and we need to look for a way out to solve the problem. We need to work harder to ensure that students at that level are well catered for by the government, by the system, the school and teachers,’’ he said. Another parent added that students were no longer encouraged to take their studies seriously since they believed that there were other ways of succeeding in life. Seeing what the entertainment industry has to offer, she said, they prefer to go that way rather than study to pass their examinations.

Reading the report was not enough shock as the reactions I got around me from a generation that sees tomorrow only from the prism of cash, real cash. The youths around me laughed at my naivety in taking the results too seriously. What would be the worth of that certificate if one passed? A colleague called my attention to a BBM profile message: Etisalat Nigerian Idol: N5m plus multi-million naira music record label contract; Glo Naija sings: N5m plus SUV; Gulder Ultimate Search: N10m plus endorsements; Cowbell Mathematics Competition:N100,000; Spelling Bee: N50,000; School Scrabble competition: N25,000; Radio station spelling game: A nylon bag with a bottle of soft drink! And someone is asking for the reasons behind mass failure in WASSCE!

A society cannot be greater than its leaders’ values. A society mirrors its leaders. And by leaders, I am looking beyond the political leaders who are already beyond redemption. I am seeing teachers as a special class of leaders, gate-keeping for the nation in the education sector. Students rarely excel where those who teach actually need to be tutored on the correctness of what they teach. Teachers are like launderers of the linen of the future. Woe betide that future that is washed in mud waters. I blame teachers, especially those in the public schools, for the mass failure as I blame the government for providing manure to grow a generation of sterile brains. My friends who chose teaching won’t be happy at this conclusion of mine. They will spare me their anger. Is it not said that no one celebrates growers of rice bereft of grains? And the teachers can do better if only they would know that learning is a life-long task. Sedentary intellectualism does not just stagnate, it puts the habitual laid-back on reverse gear. Teachers will do better teaching if they continually add value to themselves. They can learn from even WAEC which annually puts its examiners and markers through the crucible of refresher courses. And the result shows in the seamless manner it has been conducting its affairs.

Let teachers do their bit. Let governments govern well, removing our kids from writing examinations on bare floor. Let parents see their wards as their future and be more serious in their own obligations. Let the nation promote the right values. Not doing all these puts the nation in sure trouble. I pray the mass of the candidates who did not pass or could not pass or failed to pass will not be the next generation of troublers of this careless Israel

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