SSCE in CBT format: You can go ahead if — Parents, students tell FG

By Adesina Wahab  

Critical stakeholders in the education sector have urged the Federal Government to be careful and not be in a haste to change the conduct of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations to computer-based test format.

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Their reservations arose from the statement by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, that the new format of conducting the examinations would start from next year and that CBT centres run by private organisations would also be used for the conduct of the examinations.

Alausa, while monitoring a pilot CBT SSCE conducted by National Examinations Council, NECO, in Abuja recently, said the private centres would complement those to be provided in schools and other sources.

“WAEC and NECO exams are school-based exams being conducted at their schools. No, we will move away from that. It is going to be like (the way) JAMB exams are being conducted at CBT centres. We have thousands of CBT centres across the nation.

“Those are the centres that we are going to use. It’s not a case that students do not have the facilities. Schools do not have the facilities. We have enough people. We also have to expand the value chain of these CBT centres. They should not just be to service JAMB alone.

“They should be able to service WAEC and NECO. The proprietors of these businesses, the owners of these businesses, have invested billions of naira to set up these CBT centres so we also have to help develop a new value chain in our economy,” Alausa said.

However, parents under the aegis of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, and the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, have called for caution on the part of the government.

Their positions are that so many things have to be put in place before transiting to a CBT mode of exam next year  

It is doable if… – NANS  

The National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Comrade Adeyemi Samson Ajasa, opined that between now and when the exam bodies are expected to go full throttle for CBT exams is just about nine months.

“We have about nine months to when the examination bodies are expected to start CBT exams, it is not that it is not possible, but it would require a lot of grit and resilience to do the needful on the part of the government. Facilities have to be provided in the schools. That can be done if there will be transparency and we put in the seriousness it needs. We can do it. What it will entail is that the necessary facilities will be provided between now and then, no problem.  

“Also, can they provide enough computers at least in the 774 local government areas of the country? We must also be able to guarantee the fidelity of the examinations. We don’t want a situation whereby technical hitches would be a stumbling block to students’ success or giving them needless headaches,” he said.

No computer labs in schools – NAPTAN

The National President of NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, noted: “The issue is that most public secondary schools don’t have computer laboratories. Some private schools do have them. Now, if there is no computer laboratory in a school, where will the students sit to write the examination? The government has set up a committee on the need to set up computer laboratory in each of the public secondary schools and NAPTAN was even invited to be part of it. The committee is yet to conclude its work but that is important. Without such laboratories, students in public schools won’t be able to write such exam.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of NAPTAN, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, expressed the view that SSCE runs for about a month and the UTME is just for a day and it would be difficult to compare the two.

“The UTME being conducted by JAMB is a day exam and SSCE by WAEC and NECO runs for between 28 and 30 days. From what we have on ground now, there is no way transiting SSCE to CBT is going to be feasible next year. Even the UTME that has been run for years now still experiences technical glitches.

I see no reason why we should be in a hurry to move the examinations to CBT. Do we have enough CBT centres across the country? We have 774 local governments across the country, even if we have CBT centres in those councils, that may not be enough too. I would suggest that they shift the starting date to 2027 for the necessary facilities to be provided.”

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