Senior secondary school students across West Africa don finally begin write dia May/June exams afta months of delay wey Covid-19 cause.
But many fit no sabi say West African Examinations Council (WAEC), di joinbodi wey dey organise di exams say dem don get software wey go detect exam malpractice.
WAEC na im dey in charge of secondary school exams for di English kontris inside di West Africa region.
Dis kontris na The Gambia, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Exam malpractice na one big problem wey di exam joinbodi don dey battle wit for many years. E dey lead to cancellation of results and sometimes, banning of exam centres.
For Nigeria alone na 1,573,789 candidates dey expected to sit for di 2021 examinations wit just 25,000 teachers wey go work as supervisors.
WAEC say di supervisors no fit catch every case of exam malpractice and na why dem begin use software wey go check di papers wey student submit to see weda e dey pure or not.
Dem call am Item Differentia Profile (IDP).
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IDP – wetin e be and how e dey work?
Ahead of di exams wey start on 16 August, WAEC boast say dia “in-built anti-malpractice mechanism go fish out” any ‘special’ or ‘miracle’ centres wia exams malpractice dey flourish.
- WAEC announce di new software for 2017, although e be like say na di year afta dem begin use am proper.
- According to di exam joinbodi, di IDP go torchlight cheating wey happun for Objectives type of paper – di oda type na Essay paper wey WAEC say examiners fit catch mago-mago inside by demsef.
- Di software fit detect most of di cases wia candidates do copy-copy for Objectives papers.
- Di software get automatic reporting tool wey go report di candidate inside di charge sheets.
- For Nigeria, candidates wey di software catch fit face fine of N250,000 ($610).
In addition to di use of IDP, WAEC go require candidates to use biometric to verify say na dem really wan sit for di paper. Dis na to stop di practice wia candidates go carry anoda pesin to come write exams for dem.
From di timetable wey di exam bodi release, students go write core subjects like English Language on 13 September while General Mathematics on 20 September.
As Covid-19 sill dey worry for dis participating West African kontris WAEC don issue strong rules wey go guide di exam period. Dis include face masks for invigilators and say schools must provide hand sanitizers for dia centres.
