Tubmanburg, Bomi County Liberia-If all goes well, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) may shortly be partnering with the LMDI flagship program, THE DIALOGUE to allay fear among tens of thousands of Liberian high school students about the West African Senior School Certificate Exams (WASSE) due to start next year.
WASSE is the synchronized regional international examination, which Liberia is to become the last WAEC-member country to sit, something which has created phobia amongst students across the country.
Dale Gbotoe, the head of the Liberian National Office of the WAEC, says Liberia has long eluded WASSCE as it is commonly called by thousands of Liberian senior high school students for fear of lack of preparation.
“Students, parents teachers, school owners , administrators and even the Liberian government have all feared and resisted this simple but great testing procedure for Liberian schools, both public and private, claiming that the schools are not prepared for the introduction of the WASSCE. This is shameful,” says Gbotoe.
But it surprisingly turned out at the latest of the LMDI weekly People To People (P2P) flagship platform in Tubmanburg, Bomi County recently, that all the fear for WASSCE has been due to gross lack of needed public knowledge on the whole concept of WASSCE and its roll out process, according to an LMDI press release.
It was nearly a whole day of an agreed trial version of THE DIALOGUE for possible partnership between the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiatives (LMDI) for urgently needed national public education on the introduction of WASSSCE.
Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and executives gathered here to talk about the test at the WAEC regional office at Tubmanburg, Bomi County in Western Liberia.
Led by the head of WAEC National Office, Gbotoe, backed by a regional testing staff, Mrs. Comfort Argwu took up time to explain what WASSCE is, its benefits and administration procedures and the urgency for Liberia to join in.
In an apparent demystifying drive, Mrs. Argwu and Dale Gbotoe told the students gripped with the WASSCE phobia that they had nothing to fear, as WASSCE is simply a name change for the test Liberia has already been taking.
They said the only difference is that test will now be synchronized with the rest of the five-nation WAEC member organization.
The WAEC officials said the introduction of the WASSCE to Liberia will be ultered to cope with Liberia’s unpreparedness, especially in practical areas that require the use of laboratory exercises which Liberia has contended it is not prepared for.
“We will give you a watered down version of the WASSCE until at a time your government tells us that you are fully ready for the full scale one, but we can no longer wait for Liberia alone among the WAEC member nations,” the two WAEC officials explained.
Argwu and Gbotoe informed the forum that Liberian students stand to benefit more from WASSCE than the WAEC administered Liberian Senior High School Certificate Examinations, which Liberian students have been taking.
They explained that for WASSCE, except one fails all, you are not a total failure as opposed the Liberian High School Certificate which requires that candidates pass all subjects under it or be considered an outright failure.
“Under WASSCE, if you fail all and pass just one, you will be given a certificate for that, giving you some hope”, Argwu and Gbotoe further explained. The other advantage for WASSCE candidates is that they will have the option to select their choice of subjects for eventual alignment with their career agenda in college.
The head of the WAEC National Office alarmed that Liberia has evaded the administration of the WASSCE for too long and that WAEC has now grown impatient with having Liberia match up with other member countries.
The more than 500 people in attendance, mainly high school students were keen on all kinds concerns about the expected WASSCE, its administration and benefits for the potential candidates.
The forum saw an intense and frank exchange of views on the WASSCE and expected administration beginning early next year.
The Bomi County forum was test for a potential partnership between WAEC Liberia and the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiatives (LMDI) for a sustained public education on the WASSCE and other public education initiatives in Liberia.
Meanwhile, a second mass gathering of WAEC Liberia and hundreds of Liberian high school students for public education on WASSCE takes place this Wednesday at the Monrovia Christian Fellowship Center at 9th Street Sinkor near the National Elections Commission (NEC).
As ever the deliberations from the series of forums and subsequent ones in the coming weeks and months are being broadcast on our partner network 45 National and Rural Community Radios around Liberia, according to the LMDI headed by Journalist John Kollie.