By GABRIEL DIKE
In what may come as a big surprise to most people, no fewer than 15 persons recently returned certificates issued to them by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). They said they had to give up the certificates because they cheated during the examination, and now as Born Again Christians, they could not live with “the sin.”
Some individuals, Saturday Sun gathered, had approached WAEC through letters seeking restitution after they had confessed how they dubiously acquired their certificates when they wrote the examinations at various periods.
The council wrote back to them, stating that what they were expected to do was to return the certificates awarded in line with the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the examinations. However, only few responded, including a holder of Teachers’ Grade 11 certificate.
It was learnt that those who complied with the directive returned their certificates to various WAEC offices nationwide and the council took their case to the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), which, at its 55th meeting in Lagos, cancelled the returned 15 certificates.
According to the council’s letter to NEC, “the listed candidates, in their letters of restitution, confessed that they were involved in various forms of examination malpractices in various years as indicated against their numbers. They have returned the original certificates issued to them.’’
The returned certificates by the Born Again Christians were for both the May/June (school exam) and November/December (private candidate) West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
A breakdown of the year the examinations were taken revealed that the oldest dates back to June 1983 with certificate no SG 288999. Next is June 1990 (RS0680084c), June 1992 (NGSS 0994156), June 1995 (NGSS0265147) and December 1995 (NGSP 0169397), December 1996 (NGSP 0575264), December 2000 (NGWASSCP 038771), June 2001 (NGWASSCS 2451037).
Others are June 2002, two certificates with NGWASSCP 4100224 and NGWASSCS 3894794 were returned and cancelled, June 2003 (NGWASSCS 5009313), June 2006 two born again Christian returned certificates with NGWASSCP 7747466 and NGWASSCS 8423755, December 2008 (NGWASSCP 05790031) and June 2010 NGWASSCP 13327157.
There are several Verses in the Bible to support restitution, which conform to what the 15 Born Again Christians did by confessing their sins and sought restitution from WAEC. In 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, the is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’’.
While Numbers 5:6-7 says ’’When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong’’. Efforts to get the names, and perhaps pictures, of the 15 persons were abortive, as WAEC officials said it would amount to violation of the rights of the individuals involved and that of their (officials) ethics.
In a related development, the N55th and 56th NEC meeting of WAEC has hammered 493 candidates who sat for both the May/June and November/December WASSCE by ordering the cancellation of their certificates/result slips taken at various periods.
A document available to Saturday Sun reads partly: “The under listed candidates were confirmed to have been impersonated in the various examinations and years indicated against them. The result slips/certificates have been returned by the Zonal/Branch Offices concerned to the Post Examinations Department for cancellation.’’
A breakdown of the statistics revealed that at the 55th NEC meeting (result slips and certificates of impersonators in previous GCE/SSC/ WASSC examinations), no fewer than 241 candidates were sanctioned while at their 56th deliberation (result slips and certificates of impersonators in previous May/June and November/December WASSC examinations), a total of 252 candidates had their certificates cancelled according to the rules and regulations guiding the conductor of WAEC exams.
A remarkable thing which Saturday Sun noted in the 55th NEC meeting decision was that the 241 cancelled certificates involved private candidates who wrote either the Nov/Dec GCE or WASSCE. Thus confirming stakeholders’ position that exam fraud is more rampart during the private candidate examinations.
A breakdown of the 241 cancelled certificates revealed that the highest number occurred in 1998 (34), followed by 1999 and 2001 with 26 certificates each. In 2000, it had 24, 1997 (23), 1995 (22), 2002 (19), 1994 and 1996 each had 15, 2003 (14), 1993 (12), 1987 (3), 2005 (2) while 1985, 1986, 1991, 2006, 2007 and 2009 had one cancelled certificate each.
For the 56th NEC decision, again statistics from the document indicate that majority of the 252 candidates whose certificates were cancelled sat for the Nov/Dec WASSCE (240) while 12 others wrote the May/June WASSCE.
Detail breakdown of the 252 cancelled certificates at the 56th NEC meeting showed that 2009 recorded the highest number with 33, 2002 (26), 2007 (24), 2001 (20), 2008 and 2010 had 18 each, 2000 (17), 2004 (14), 1999, 2003 and 2006 had 13 each, 2011 (10), 1995 (eight), 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2005 recorded four cancelled certificates each, 1993 and 1997 produced two each and one in 1989.
SOURCE: THE SUN
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