Disquiet over WASSCE ‘submission fees’

Head of National Office, West African Examinations Council, Mr. Charles Eguridu

A new form of exploitation is emerging in the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, FOLASHADE ADEBAYO writes 

For many parents and guardians, especially those whose children and wards are sitting for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, this is not the best of times.

They are currently groaning under the weight of multiple fees and levies occasioned by the conduct of the examination.

This year’s examination started on Monday, February 23 with such project works as Basketry, Ceramics, Graphic Design 3, Jewelry 3, Leatherwork 3, Picture Making, Sculpture 3 and Textiles 3.

Aside from registration fees and sundry amounts charged for practical examinations as well as identity cards, some parents and guardians, who spoke with our correspondent, have complained about the submission fees, a new addition to the list of charges they are expected to pay for.

A parent, Mr. Samuel Adetoluwa, said he was shocked when a teacher in one of the private schools in the capital city told him to prepare to give his son, who would write the WASSCE this year, between N1, 000 and N1, 500 as submission fees to be paid to the supervisors.

“It is not really a new trend here in Port Harcourt. But I have just been transferred from Lagos. When a teacher told me about it, I was shocked. Depending on the subject, I was told candidates pay between N1, 000 and N2, 000 to supervisors in the examination hall,’’ he said.

But while the development is news to Adetoluwa, our correspondent learnt that submission fee is an age-long trend in Port Harcourt. An 18-year-old, who identified himself only as Kunle, had a first-hand experience. The young man, who attended Iheaanachor Comprehensive Memorial College in Port Harcourt, claimed he paid N14, 500 as submission fees to supervisors at his school which also doubled as his examination centre.

Minister of Education, Mr. Ibrahim Shekarau

“I sat for 11 subjects but at the end of the examination, we were asked to pay submission money to the supervisors. This is different from the N25, 000 paid as registration fees and N5, 000 charged or practical exams and identity card. We all paid N1, 500 each for Mathematics and N1, 300 each or English. All other subjects came with a submission fee of N1, 000,” he said.

Asked if there were pupils who could not pay the money, Kunle said such cases were rare and the principal usually sorts it out with the supervisors.

“It was compulsory for every pupil. The supervisors would sign the answer sheets only after you must have paid. If you did not pay, they would tell you your paper was going nowhere,’’ he added.

Findings by our correspondent showed that the practice is the norm in the city. It was also learnt that it is a widespread culture in almost all the private schools. A retired Vice-Principal-turned author, Mr. Stephen Ogunkunle, said ‘about 97 per cent of private schools in the state’ is involved.

Ogunkunle, who taught Further Mathematics in one of the private schools in the city, painted a bleaker picture of the situation. He claimed pupils paid supervisors money to solve the WASSCE questions in addition to the submission money demanded by the supervisors.

According to him, schools used as centres for the WASSCE also compel teachers in the schools to solve the questions after which the money collected for the task would be shared.

“This has been on for a very long time that it has become a tradition here. In fact, you will be singled out the moment you express your reservations. Pupils pay N500 each to the supervisors who help them to solve the questions. I taught Further Mathematics before I resigned. They will force you to solve the questions or threaten you.

“Then, whether a pupil pays for solutions or not, he or she has to pay the submission fee, which differs from area to area. Pupils go to examination hall with enough money. They pay submission fees separately. If a pupil refuses to pay, they either tear the answer sheets when the pupil leaves or refuse to sign. You can imagine a pupil who laboured to write an examination and it is torn just like that. It may be strange to you, but it is not strange here and they do it with so much confidence,’’ he said.

Another resident, 19-year-old Joel Omotoyosi, who sat for the examination in 2013, said he paid N1, 000 for English and Mathematics and N500 for other subjects.

Speaking on the matter, an educationist, Mr. Ayodele Nelson, asked authorities in the state to ‘restore sanity and confidence in the education sector’.

In Nelson’s opinion, parents, teachers and the pupils were complicit in the illicit affair. He added that many parents endured the cost because they wanted their children to pass at all costs.

“It is abnormal for supervisors who are paid by either the state ministry of education or the West African Examination Council itself to inflict such financial pains on hapless Nigerians.

“Again, this is a reflection of how far we have sunk as a society. The supervisors are parents. The pupils too got the money from their parents. It is both an administrative and moral challenge,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Public Affairs Officer, WAEC, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, has promised that the Council will look into the matter even though the Council was not party to the arrangement.

Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday, Ojijeogu said though the supervisors were answerable to state ministries of education, WAEC would take up the matter.

“They are not WAEC members of staff. The ministries of education nominate the supervisors. But we are interested in this and will start our investigations. Any supervisor found wanting would surely be disciplined,’’ he said.

Copyright PUNCH.