WAEC discloses date to move WASSCE from paper-and-pen to CBT

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it will migrate the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from the current paper-and-pen to a fully computer-based testing (CBT) format by 2026.

While this is not the case for Ghana, the Head of Nigeria’s WAEC National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, says the computer-based test format piloted with last year’s WASSCE for private will be used for his country’s WASSCE for School.

“We have conducted five examinations already, one for private candidates and one for school candidates, and by 2026, deployment will be massive,” the WAEC official said at a meeting with members of the National Assembly Committee on Education in Abuja.

The Head of Nigeria’s West African Examinations Council (WAEC) National Office explained that candidates’ performances in computer-based testing (CBT) had been empirically better than in paper-based tests.

WAEC, following the full rollout of the computer-based test in WASSCE, has therefore directed schools to put in place a minimum of 250 functional laptops with 10 per cent backups, a robust computer server capable of supporting 250 systems simultaneously, and a Local Area Network setup.

Other mandatory requirements include functional air conditioners and lighting, uninterrupted electricity supply, a backup generator with at least 40kVA capacity, CCTV cameras, and a holding room or reception facility for candidates.

The Head of Examinations, WAEC, Mr Lucky Njoagwuani, noted that the Examinations Council’s move of WASSCE to CBT would cut logistics costs, improve examination security, and widen accessibility.

“We started with the fourth series of our private candidate exam about two years ago, and it was successful. This year’s private candidate exam, second series, is fully computer-based with no option for pen and paper. Invariably, next year’s school candidate exam will be fully computer-based as well,” he said.

The Port Harcourt Zonal Coordinator of WAEC, Mr Adeniran-Amusan Akim, has urged schools to begin upgrading their ICT centres in line with WAEC standards, stressing that the CBT system “is here to stay.”

The Port Harcourt Zonal Coordinator of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) said that secondary schools unable to meet the requirements would be assigned to designated centres.

“WAEC will not lower the standards. Any school that wants to host the exams within its premises must provide the required equipment and infrastructure,” the Port Harcourt WAEC Zonal Coordinator said.

Meanwhile, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) – Ghana says it has already held technical discussions on the proposal and intends to pilot it with a smaller exam before rolling it out nationwide.

“Gradually, we are also thinking about computer-based testing, which is something that we have thought about. We have had a technical committee meeting,” the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, has said.

The Head of Public Relations indicated that the Computer-Based Test (CBT) will be piloted with the General and Advanced Business Certificate Examination, which has a low candidature.

“We want to pilot that with one of our small examinations, the general and advanced business certificate examination,” the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) spokesman said.

Explaining the West African Examinations Council’s decision to pilot the Computer-Based Test with the General and Advanced Business Certificate Examination, Mr Kapi said it’s because the examination has low candidature.

“This is an examination that does not have a large candidature, so we can manage them at the regional capital, where we are sure of internet connectivity, and once we are able to do that, we believe we can begin the process, so that if that works, we can replicate,” the WEC official said on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily.