By: Ing. Yayah A. B. Conteh
Sierra Leone’s education system, like many other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, is fraught with lapses and controversies with exams fraud being the most prominent.
The spate of examination malpractices that have led to the cancellation of several results this year particularly at WASCE (West African Senior School Certificate Examination) level has reached an alarming proportion in Sierra Leone.
From time immemorial, the common yardstick for assessment in any academic institution has always been through public examinations.
It remains to be the most practical way of assessing and evaluating knowledge and skills acquired by any student whose outcome is used as a basis for decision making on behalf of the student’s ability.
Prominent among the main objectives of education in any country is to nurture and prepare minds of the younger generation for future challenges and develop them to achieve the nation’s manpower requirements.
In Sierra Leone today, like in the not-too-distant past, examination malpractice has always been a normal way of life.
Our past and present societies have always recognised examinations as being the nucleus of education without which the enterprise would be considered incomplete.
In view of this therefore, educational institutions are established with the main objective of training and developing the nation’s physical and human resources.
Sad to say here that one serious problem plaguing the Sierra Leone system of education today is large examination malpractices coupled with intellectual dishonesty.
Our pupils and students (particularly those at BECE & WASCE levels) devise as a daily routine new manipulations and tricks to beat the system hands down.
It is still further sad to highlight here that unlike in the past when education (acquired through hard work, dedication and commitment on the part of those who constituted the finished products), the western-oriented type of education imparted on students these days no longer lays preference on hard work in particular but only on the acquisition of certificates for employment opportunities.
The major causes of these examination malpractices include, but not limited to, parental pressure for excellent grades, and the value and significance attached to certificate acquisition rather than knowledge and skills.
It however seems to me that our education system has defied solutions as far as examination malpractices are concerned, as all antidote applied in order to curb the practice has yielded no fruitful dividends.
The seizure or cancellation of about 34,525 results for students that attempted the 2023 WASCE in our country, the highest ever, is testimony to this development.
In fact, the percentage of candidates with credit grades or better in English Language this year was disappointingly low as they were pegged to 17%.
The low performance demonstrates the continuing effort of MBSSE (Ministry of Basic and Senior School Education) and WAEC (West African Examination Council) to eradicate examination malpractices.
The late Zambian President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, was once reported to have said in one of his books, that, “It has taken the world a long time to realise that the true wealth and development of any nation resides in the trained minds of its people, and that education is a life-long process.”
Kaunda’s claim, if properly understood, means education is the single- most important determinant of economic mobility, and that the essence of investing in it need not be over-emphasised here. No young person with a grain of common sense needs to be told about this.
Education has been said to be as old as man on planet earth and embraces the whole life of an individual from the cradle to the grave.
It is said to be the only lasting investment one can boast of in a lifetime from birth to death.
From personal observations gathered across the years, the bulk of those occupying positions of trust and responsibility today in various spheres of national and international engagements are products of those who schooled within the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and, probably, up to the early 90s.
I must admit here that most of those who fall within this bracket had very good and sound education which they acquired through hard work and perseverance evidenced by sound writing and oratory in English, the language of official instruction and communication in our institutions.
In contrast to what my eyes behold today, it is quite lamentable to state here that the younger generation on whose shoulders the mantle of leadership of our nation will lie in the not-too-distant future, have completely veered out of sane direction in respect of the acquisition of good and sound education.
No longer do we see that sense of dedication and commitment among the present crop of school-goers as was commonly anticipated.
Not only at the primary, secondary or vocational levels, but even at the university levels too, a good proportion of students graduate from our educational establishments with virtually nothing in their skulls to show for that.
I have met a handful of graduate students who have proven incapable of writing simple applications for employment.
I sometimes wonder how such students successfully navigate their ways through public exams and eventually find themselves into vocational institutes and universities!
Is it through examination malpractices, exchange of cash for grades, or the like, that sail them through.
If the current situation persists, then what kind of products are we preparing for national leadership tomorrow?
Is it out of this development we expect to train our medical doctors, journalists, accountants, engineers, lawyers, teachers and administrators.
What would they be capable of delivering to the nation and beyond after graduation under these circumstances?
Can these individuals live up to the challenges of modern societies, both at home and abroad, in sensitive offices or academic environments where they may happen to find themselves, as the case may be?
Can they respond to the rigours and responsibilities of positive leadership?
In stark comparison with the past wherein students indulge in this act in very minimal proportion, or none at all, the likes of those today advertise it with reckless abandon coupled with a completely nonchalant attitude.
Does examination malpractice contribute to educational or national development?
The question is yours for the answer.
It is even widely rumoured that helping students achieve this unholy and nefarious acts of examination malpractices are top administrative authorities in the education sector, ranging from chief examiners to invigilators and supervisors who are largely supported by parents who would not want their children to lag behind in the cut-throat rush towards the acquisition of a modern education devoid of meaning.
If this trend continues unchallenged, I am afraid the future of our youth seeking education for betterment of their future and the nation as a whole lies in a precarious balance.
Ing. Yayah A. B. Conteh is the former Director of the Mechanical Services Department ( MSD) of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority( SLRA).
E-mail: contehyayahab2020@gmail.com.
Tel. nos: 076640364 / 077718805 / 034244255.