Wishing our students best of luck
Students from 868 public and private senior high schools (SHSs) yesterday began the 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at 866 centres across the country.
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By all standards, the examination constitutes a crucial milestone in the education of the candidates, since performance in it will determine their progression to the tertiary level.
While wishing our students the best and praying that they all come out with flying colours, there is the need to remind them about some practices that had in the past marred the conduct of examinations at this level.
These are actions that infringe on the rules and regulations of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on the conduct of examinations.
During WASSCE examinations in the past, there had been instances when candidates had been caught smuggling foreign materials into the examination room.
There had also been occasions when examination papers had leaked through the connivance of teachers, students, parents, officials of WAEC and security people detailed to oversee the conduct of the examinations.
Some teachers, and at times schools, in a bid to get their students score high marks, had gone to great length to secure examination questions for students.
The Daily Graphic wishes to admonish that all such practices amount to cheating and clearly violate the virtues that our students should be taught as they progress to become national leaders in the near future.
By teaching them to cheat, we sow dangerous seeds that will mature in the future when they take up leadership roles and adopt practices that amount to ripping off the state or wherever they may find themselves.
Our students must also beware that no question will be asked on a topic that they have not been taught in school or is not part of the curriculum.
That is to say that any question that will be presented to them will be based on the curriculum that they studied in school. Therefore, if teachers have done their part and the students too have studied well, then every challenge should be surmountable.
In the past five years, our students have beaten their counterparts from other WASSCE countries in the sub-region by emerging tops in the overall performance in the examination.
If we must maintain that record, then our students must remain diligent and rely on the efforts they put into studying and refrain from any acts that may mar the conduct of the examination.
After all, the examination constitutes an opportunity for them to account for their stewardship as students who have been taken through three years of senior high school education.
They should also remember the painstaking investment made in their education by their parents, the government and society, which they must justify in order to make all stakeholders happy that their investments have not been in vain.
But, above all, they must have confidence in God and in themselves and not allow examination fright and anxiety to get the better of them.
They must bear in mind that success will only come by way of hard work.
We believe that our students are up to the task and will not engage in any negative acts but endeavour to maintain high standards in the general outcome of this year’s WASSCE.
The Daily Graphic wishes them well and prays for God’s guidance and protection. May all their efforts be crowned with success.