Sierra Leone’s Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Dr. Moinina David Sengeh on Tuesday, August 24, 2022, engaged the Chairman of Council of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Professor Ato Essuman, and Registrar Mr. Pateh Bah on need for reforms of Africa foremost examination body.
The WAEC Regional leadership is in Sierra Leone on the invitation of the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Dr. Moinina David Sengeh.
A close door session with the Minister, WAEC Chairman and Registrar was held in the minister’s office before meeting with other members of the Ministry.
Highlighting the Ministry’s concerns, Dr. Sengeh calls on WAEC to fast-track the recruitment of the Head of National Office of WAEC, noting that the recruitment process has started over a year ago and calls on the regional leadership to update MBSSE on how far they have gone with the process.
“Before the introduction of the result checker, students usually take weeks to know their examination results, but with the platform, they can now access their result through SMS. This is what the radical inclusion policy is about. Sincerely, the result checker and placement is the most transforming story of the government. The platform recorded over 200,000 users just after the release of the National Primary School Examination (NPSE),” he said.
The Minister commended WAEC for providing access to the result, noting that as a ministry MBSSE will keep pushing for more collaboration with WAEC. He apologized on behalf of Sierra Leone for accumulating the annual payment to WAEC for over ten years, noting that he will engage the concerned ministries in ensuring that they come up with a payment plan.
He however, stated that the Ministry had paid for NPSE and BECE candidates, and have sent cheque to the bank for the payment of WASSCE candidates.
“I want us (Sierra Leone) to host a high-level meeting with WAEC and ministers of WAEC member countries. A lot needs to be discussed ranging from assessment, curriculum, among others,” he said.
Chairman of the Council of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Professor Ato Essuman said WAEC is now 70 years old, noting that the call made by the Minister is very much timely as they consider their 70 years of existence as reflection time and issues of reform are very much welcome.
He said WAEC will discuss with the other countries so that they could buy into it.
Speaking on examination malpractice, he said the education sector in the different countries has a whole lot of responsibility because examinations are being held in their schools, noting that Sierra Leone remain the only country that is printing their question papers out of the country. He stressed the need for WAEC National Office to have their own printer as that will limit the leakage of question papers.
The Registrar Mr. Bah noted that they will be pleased to see examinations results released even before the stipulated 45 days period, noting that in the past couple of years, they are challenged because the number of students that are taking the WASSCE has increased significantly.
He called on the government to ensure that the government stops older candidates from joining schools to take the WAEC exams, adding that those candidates should go in for the private WASSCE as they are of equal significance.
On making the softcopy of the WASSCE result available for analysis and also for result checker, he said there is still opportunity for a dialogue, noting that WAEC feeds on the fund they get from selling scratch cards for sustenance, adding that if withdrawn, that will make WAEC less effective.
The Chief Education Officer at the MBSSE, Professor Yatta Kanu welcomed the Chairman of Council and Registrar for their maiden visit to Sierra Leone, noting that the ministry will continue its good working relationship with the WAEC.
WAEC remains Africa’s foremost examining body, providing qualitative and reliable educational assessment, encouraging academic and moral excellence, and promoting sustainable human resource development.
By Sallieu S. Kanu