WHEN YOUR NATION KEEPS FAILING YOU…

I usually spend days and sometimes months before deciding on a blog post. It seems to be the only bad habit I have tried to change unsuccessfully. I have found it more difficult to change that habit than even my penchant for scruffy haircuts. But it seems that’s about to change today primarily because of two stories I came across on the internet a while ago. Those stories had to do largely with the youths and the future of this country and you can bet your last pesewa that such a story would get me reeling with anger.

The first had to do with the ongoing final examination of senior high school students across the country. Just take a look at the quotes below:

“The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has intensified invigilation at the various centres where the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is being written. WAEC is adopting such measure following reports of alleged exam malpractices going on in some centres. WAEC stated that, it has received information regarding examination malpractices in examination halls and planned cheating patterns at some of the centres as a result of poor supervision and invigilation.”

Then there is a subsequent story that quotes WAEC again;

“The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has rejected reports of exams leakage in the ongoing 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). According to the Council, “there has been no leakage of examination papers for the WASCCE for School Candidates, 2019.”

WAEC indicated in a statement that, in its monitoring of the examination, it has received information regarding examination malpractices in examination halls and planned cheating patterns at some of the centres as a result of poor supervision and invigilation.

In some cases, pre-arranged cheating has been reported by insiders with school authorities creating hideouts where teachers knowledgeable in the subject area wait for the question paper packets to be opened.

Snapshot of these questions are taken, solved and answers sent to candidates in the question papers from the centres after the question paper packets are opened.

They then solve the question and post the answers on their websites and the WhatsApp groups of candidates who have paid for such services.  (citinewsroom.com)

Is it not incredible?

When I sat for my final secondary school examination conducted by WAEC in 2007, the question of leakages and malpractices were as rife as they are today. However, it seems the advent of social media penetration has made the problem worse. It is not surprising to see ‘alleged leak papers’ on the internet anymore. Indeed, I once saw a page advertising the sale of ‘leaked examination questions and forged results’. Yes, you read that right. The boldness of it was not as surprising as its absurdity.

I am usually biased towards teachers but I find it difficult to comprehend why any teacher would aid his/her students to cheat in his/her final examination. What then was the point of your teaching? Is that how we have lost any modicum of integrity in this country? I won’t for once countenance doing such a thing if I were still in the teaching profession, not because I am moral saint, but such an action demeans the value of the very certificate I used to gain admission to the university.

We have enough issues regarding the quality of education in our country. We should not compound that with demeaning our already near-valueless WASSCE certificates. Maybe it is time we break the monopoly of WAEC and introduce other credible examination bodies into our public education system.

Let move to the second story that irked me this morning. It had to do with the office of the head of local government service and the inhumane nature of public sector employment recruitment in this country. Check the quote below from the Daily Graphic story;

“The Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) received about 61,000 applications, out of which 40,000 applicants were qualified, but we need only 2,200.

 “As of now, the management of the OHLGS and the council have agreed to use the random sampling method to select 4,000 applicants out of the 40,000 for interviews to be conducted over the next four weeks. Ten panel members have already been set up for that purpose,” he added.

“Answering a question on why the OHLGS decided to use random sampling for the selection of applications for the interview, he said the cost of the conduct of an aptitude test was unbearable for the service.

According to him, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) demanded GH¢25 per applicant for the aptitude test, “which would have cost us so much, but we do not have such money”. (graphic.com.gh)

That was the head of local government service, the rather knowledgeable Dr. Ato Arthur, speaking! Can you beat that?

Is this some sort of institutionalized protocol recruitment or what? I have a vague idea for the OHLGS to consider. First of all, the 25 cedis per applicant that WAEC was charging included use of their examination halls and printing. To bring the cost down, you can engage WAEC or any other competent persons or body to set a specified number of questions for you. You then communicate with the applicants a specified date and time to take the examination online. If the OHLGS isn’t conversant with the technology for conducting the e-examination, they could have just invited 10 of the applicants for the IT-related positions and they would have done a good job for them. The technology involved in conducting the e-examination isn’t rocket science. Such a process would offer a fair chance for each applicant in the process. The idea of a random sampling isn’t only half-witted but creates a fertile ground for the introduction of ‘intentional bias’ in the recruitment process. The least we can do for the teeming unemployed youths clamouring for this limited number of vacancies is to offer them a genuine fair shot at the job.

I hope the final applicants who are successful in this process will take inspiration from the vapid and heart-wrenching manner of this recruitment to offer their best for this country. Eschewing corruption and carrying the badge of patriotism always so that we may change the narrative of our country for the next generation. It is a sad day to be a Ghanaian youth but we will keep the hope alive…