-Open Liberia releases survey report
By Mafanta Kromah
A new study released by a Liberian research group, Open Liberia says government deliberately set up students to fail the 2018 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) because it failed to ensure an enabling environment for students to pass the exams.
The report was released at a news conference in Monrovia recently by the Program Officer of Open Liberia, Princess M. Zoduah who said the conditions on Liberian school campuses and in classrooms are sufficient reasons for the anticipated mass failure.
This is according to findings from a preliminary survey conducted by the Liberia NGO on both qualitative and quantitative analyses gauging the overall success level students that sat WASSC, with 165 participants from 31 high schools.
Students massively failed in the 2017-2018 WASSCE exams conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
Last week, WAEC released the results of this year’s WASSCE for Liberian high school students revealing mass failure in the exams.
The Officer in Charge of WACE, Isaac Toe disclosed that 65.15% or 21,580 candidates failed while 34.85% or 11, 544 candidates passed successfully in the WASSCE test.
Addressing a press conference in Monrovia, Mr. Toe, who is also the head of the Testing Department, pointed out that 33,979 candidates from 600 high schools but only 33,124 candidate representing 97.48% sat for the examinations.
Some 33,979 candidates from 600 senior schools submitted entries online for the exams but the total of 33,124 candidates constituting 97.48 sat the test, according to WAEC. The exam was administered at 216 centers from April 3 to 20 2018.
But the survey conducted by Open Liberia shows that 54 students constituting 33.5% of respondents said they found questions in the exams somehow difficult; 41 students amounting to 25.3% said the exams were very difficult; 14 students 9.5% described the exams as very strange; 11 students or 7.6% responded somehow strange; and while 39 students said the questions were very easy or somehow easy accounting for about 30% of the respondents.
The Open Liberia report says that the government must first address the root causes of students’ failure, by ensuring and subsidizing the establishment in libraries equipped with modern books and laboratories equipped with modern equipment in all secondary schools across the country.
It also urges government to focus on ensuring that all teacher training schools have libraries and laboratories and that the teachers in these schools also know how to use equipment and facilities and can transfer such skills.
“Teacher training shouldn’t only be about teaching techniques ad designs,” the report point out.
“Government shall not punish students for failing an exam which conditions were not right even to pass. Isn’t it natural that when the conditions are not right to pass an exam, there is bound to be failure?”
Accordingly, the report says that that some participants did not respond to all the questions posted to them, which means the percentage will not be exact at some places.
The survey asked 11 questions, broadly and specifically gauging the mood, confidence level and optimism of students that sat the exams, especially the first time the exams were ever administered in Liberia for all 12 graders to participate.
The Open Liberia report explains that close to 80% of the participants in the study had no doubt (Definitely Prepared) about their preparation prior to the WASSCE exams. This is compared to the 23% percent who had some doubt (Somehow Prepared).
“Not a single student said he or she was not prepared for the exams,” the Program Officer of the Liberian research NGO lamented.
“Contrasting the pre-exam preparation mood from the post exam confidence, there is indeed some questions to be answered as to what went wrong. The study finds that students’ confidence and motivation level dropped when they saw the questions despite their claim of definite preparedness; prompting an early warning sign of pending massive failure come the results,” Madam Zoduah said.
According to the recent study: “Majority of the respondents (about 54 %) said questions in non-science subjects were like the ones taught in schools.
By this, exam questions in English, History, Literature, Economics, and Geography were subjects’ respondents named as being closed to what they learned in school. Others such as Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology were listed as the most difficult subjects, especially so because the topics covered in the exams were not what students were taught with in their respective schools, respondents said in the recent survey.
Liberian Education Minister, Prof. Ansu Sonii said after the poor results were released that Liberia’s education system was at a critical point.
Prof. Sonii said that order to fix the problem, Liberians must go the extra mile by donating a fraction of their monthly salaries towards education.
Although the WASSCE was given to senior students on a pilot basis in the past, this is the first time at all senior students are required to take and pass the WASSCE before even graduating.
Liberia is a member of the five English Speaking countries that make up the West African Examinations Council which administers WASSCE.