The Head National Office of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) says the assumption that those who proceed to the university based on their WAEC results are those that pass the exam is not true.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Mr Charles Eguridu, said that the assumption on those who obtain credit in Mathematics and English Language constitute those who pass WAEC and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) is misleading.

Mr Eguridu said that the Nigerian National Policy on Education does not prescribe that everybody who writes WAEC examination must gain admission into the university.

He added that those “who have the aptitude would gain admission into any tertiary institution while those who do not have the ability, can enroll in teachers’ training colleges, polytechnics, colleges of education and nursing schools.

“I don’t see basically what is necessary for a candidate to have credit in Mathematics to be a musician,yet we need Mathematics everyday”.

He, nonetheless said that statistically,we have about 58 per cent of candidates who obtained grade 1-6 in Mathematics and about the same percentage in English Language.

“The statistics before me shows that about 58.08 per cent of the candidates who wrote the examination in 2015, had credits in Mathematics and English Language respectively

“In English Language, we had a total of one million, five hundred and eighty five thousand, seven hundred and ninety six candidates who sat for the examination, and of this number, nine hundred and twenty one thousand, one hundred and thirty eight obtained grade 1-6.

“While in Mathematics, we had one million, five hundred and eighty three thousand, two hundred and fifty six candidates who wrote the examination and of this number, nine hundred and thirty four thousand, four hundred and eleven candidates passed the examination by obtaining grade 1-6

39 per cent of the candidates passed Mathematics, English Language and three other subjects”, he said.

Mr Eguridu, however, maintained that some candidates were not prepared for the examination which led to failure in subjects like economics, biology, physics and chemistry.

Speaking about some factors that militated the performance of the candidates, Mr Eguridu said that poor quality of teaching and learning in the schools, lack of teaching aids, laboratories and library could militate the performance of the students.

He, nonetheless said that the perception of education, which according to candidates, is about passing examination and gaining admission, should be tackled with.

“Education is meant to equip the individual for a life time,” he stressed.

Speaking about the relationship between WAEC and state governments, Mr Eguridu said that “the policy to pay the entry fee of candidates, is what i must commend the state”.

The Head National Office of WAEC said that the debt owed by some states affected the operation of WAEC.
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