The National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Tuesday April 26, 2022, held its monthly seminar with the theme: “Achieving Excellent Grade in Biology in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination”.
The seminar which was held at the Lower Hall of the National Office of WAEC in Freetown attracted students from both public and private schools, teachers, policymakers, and stakeholders.
The acting Head of the Research Department and Officer In Charge of the National Office of WAEC – Freetown, Mr Mustapha G. Koroma said that the topic is very appropriate at a time like this when the performance of candidates offering Biology is dwindling.
Mr Koroam said, “This seminar is in line with WAEC policy of close collaboration with schools and other stakeholders in education to promote and sustain quality performance in Councils’ examinations.”
He disclosed that Research Division of WAEC’s Freetown Office has organised 33 seminars over the years, adding that “we are here today to add to the presentations”.
He said that the Mission statement of WAEC is to encourage academic and moral excellence among school children.
Mr Koroma said that the seminar provides a necessary approach to interpreting Biology questions, the necessary skills and topics that candidates need to give appropriate response to Biology questions particularly in examinations condition, recommendations for better performance and/teaching skills or methods that would result to improved performance of their candidates and how teachers go about teaching Biology in schools.
“It is our firm belief that candidates should be enlightened before undertaken the real test. It is our belief that teachers present here will learn from this seminar and put into practice knowledge acquire for better performance of our candidates.”
Mr Koroma said, “WAEC is also appealing to teachers to form Subject-Teacher Association which we believe could help in solving the teaching problems in schools today.”
“It is also our wish as a Council that the Ministry of Education will put proper monitoring mechanism in place for better teaching and learning in schools,” he averred.
Director of Basic and Senior Secondary Schools, Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Mrs Salmatu N’jai Koroma said that the Education Ministry appreciated WAEC for conducting such a seminar despite the challenges. She said that WAEC should stand tall and be proud of their accomplishments.
She admonished students to make learning a daily routine for them to have excellent grades. She spoke about examination malpractice which is a challenge they are grabbing with in the education system.
Representative of the Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools in Freetown, Mohamed Bangura applauded WAEC for organising such a seminar. He implored students to cascade the knowledge gained to their colleagues in their respective schools.
The lead discussant, who is the head of Biology at the Prince of Wales Senior Secondary School and the Head of Science Department Limount College, Mohamed Sannoh said that data from WAEC shows very poor performance of candidates in Biology in WASSCE for the past five years. He said that the poor performance of candidates in Biology could be attributed to poor training of Biology teachers, poor method of teaching, lack of laboratory equipment in schools, lack of motivation of students, among others.
Sannoh said that candidates’ weaknesses including misunderstanding of questions; poor spelling of biological terms; weak background in English language; improper answering of questions; inability to name parts of the organism and state their functions; and provision of non-detailed answers to questions, among others.
Recommendations
Mr Sannoh recommended that, teachers must put emphasis on correct spelling of Biology terms; candidates without science background must not be forced to offer Biology; teachers teaching Biology must be trained and qualified in the subject; Biology education curriculum and methodology should be refocused; there should be restructuring of the minds of students through education for purposeful and determined efforts aimed at Biology education improvement; Biology students should have the ability to communicate, work in teams and adapt to changes; Biology teaching should be adjust to employment needs and entrepreneurship; Biology educators should be sponsored for seminars and conferences; government should increase funding for the Biology sector; and laboratory equipment provided to both secondary and tertiary education institutions.
The seminar was climaxed by a question-and-answer session.
By Sallieu S Kanu
It’s really a historic seminar