2017 May/June West African School Certificate Examination (WASC) registration exercise has been greeted by apathy in Ebonyi State even as the examination council has said that the deadline for registration of candidates for the examination remains today, January 15.

Worried over deadline for the registration, school principals and parents have called for extension of the exercise to enable students register for the examination which costs N15,000. 

Investigation by Sunday Telegraph shows that only very few students have registered while majority of them are running round for money to enable them register. At Government Technical College (GTC) Abakaliki, only six out of 128 students have registered for the examination.

Also, only 33 out of the 101 SS3 students of Nnodo Secondary School, Abakaliki have registered while 15 out of the 88 SS3 students of Overcomers’ Secondary School, Ozibo Abakaliki registered for the examination. 

At Model Girls Comprehensive College, Ugwuachara in Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state when our correspondent visited, 45 out of the 85 SS3 students registered. In an interview, a staff of Nnodo Secondary School attributed the situation to the relocation of students preparing for the examination to the rural schools described as ‘miracle centres’. 

"WAEC and NECO registrations are a very big problem to those of us in the urban schools.

"We continue grooming these students from JSS1 to SS2. Once they come to SS2 before promotion exams, many of them change schools for WAEC and NECO and while several others remain in their old schools receiving lectures. Many students deserted their original schools and magic centres and register for WAEC. They go there so as to cheat and get good results because these magic centres located in rural areas allow examination malpractice.

“The challenges we are having this time around is because of the change that has visited Nigeria.

Things are very hard, parents are complaining, no money anywhere and WEAC says this time, there won’t be any extension. Like before, they can extend second or third time if the registration is too low but this time they said it is just once. They are insisting that the registration closes today.”

Meanwhile, the state government has called on WAEC to extend the period for registration of students for the Senior Secondary School Examination till the end of this month.

Commissioner of Education, Professor John Eke, made the call while monitoring the resumption of public and private schools in the state for the second term.

New Telegraph