The Presidency has ordered an investigation into the mass failure of students in this year’s School Certificate Examinations.

Some school heads may be punished to avert a re-occurrence of the "woeful" performance, it was gathered yesterday.

Most secondary school leavers failed the May-June examinations conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Of the candidates who sat for this year’s May/June Senior Secondary Examinations, 84% failed.

According to WAEC, only 356, 981 or 25.99 per cent of the 1,373,009 candidates (755,955 males and 617,054 females) got five credit passes and above in English, Mathematics and at least three other subjects.

Of those who passed, 116,729 are Science-oriented; 33,024 in Social Science class, and 100,632 in the Arts.

Of the 1,200,765 candidates who registered for the NECO examinations, only 126,500 or 10.7% secured five credits, including English and Mathematics.

Also, 289,966 candidates or 24.5% came out with five credits without English and Mathematics.

The Presidency, shocked by the dismal performance, ordered a probe.

A source said: "The first family is a family of teachers. President Umaru Yar’Adua is uncomfortable with the results and he has asked the Ministers of Education to investigate the poor performance.

"I think the Minister of State for Education, Hajiya Aishat Dukku, is coordinating the investigation into the mass failure. Dukku has been in the education sector for more than two decades.

"I cannot tell you members of the panel but it is made up of the representatives of the examinations bodies and other stakeholders. The panel has been meeting, evaluating data and factors in the last few weeks. The assignment is being treated with urgency.

"The essence of the probe is to identify what went wrong and how to rectify the problems. The government believes that we cannot continue like this.

"After the results have been known, the President will rub minds with state governors on the recommendations and the way forward."

Hajiya Dukku confirmed the investigation.

She said: "We have called all the examinations bodies; we have sat down; we have set up a committee to look into the poor performance in Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examinations in WAEC, NECO and NABTEB.

"And we have just concluded the investigation and the report is right here on my table. But we have not reviewed the findings of the committee. We have not studied it.

"We have, however, said that whoever is responsible for this mass failure, whether it is the head of department, a teacher or a chief executive will face the law because the government cannot be spending huge amount of money on our schools and yet the outcome is nothing.

"We believe strongly that there must be value for our investment in education; there must be value for money.

"If we are to be among the world’s largest economies by the year 2020, education should be the driving force. The drivers cannot be those that are performing poorly in their examinations. The drivers cannot be half-baked; they have to be well-equipped and it is only through education that they can be. So, we are ready to face this failure squarely and find solutions to the causes."

By Yusuf Ali, The Nation Newspaper,  3rd November 2009 Issue
http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/24062/1/Presidency-probes-mass-failure-in-SSSCE-NECO-exams/Page1.html

Can you imagine these fools blaming the poorly motivated teachers for the failure of the students. The highest paid Secondary School Teacher don't earn up to 60,000 Naira that is somebody that must have worked for at least 15 years how can such person put in his best, You need to pay visit to a nearby public school: One of the things that will catch your attention are the empty laboratories, inadequate chairs and tables for Teachers and Students and Poorly equipped Library so what investment are they talking about.
Also the decadence in the nations tertiary Institutions (Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities) caused mainly by negligence on the part of government is another source of the problem products from these Institutions are nothing to write home about.
Generally, the Present Infrastructure in the Nations Education system decayed, and don't have the capacity for the kind of output is try to produce. The Government need to sit up and do there part by upgrading Infrastructures (Library, Laboratories and Class rooms), Teachers salary and welfare before they start blaming people for there failures.

I do not think our leaders need to set up a committee to know what is wrong with our secondary schools or the education sector as a whole. To me, they are only making it more true that there is a disconnect between our leaders with reality. No one have to tell another of the decay in our institutions. Government at all level has failed us. In most schools, there are no infrastructure or the likes. What do they expect?

If our examinations go online as they are saying, we will see more failures. In many parts of this country as of today there are secondary students who finish their secondary education without ever physically seeing a computer, even when our leaders are busy siphoning billions of public money into their private accounts.

Many government secondary schools have no science teachers. Teachers are poorly paid and are not motivated. We do not need any committee to tell us that, it very obvious every where we turn in this country. I hope we do not have blind guides as leaders or are they pretending??

Do they need to probe to see the empty laboratories and dilapidated class rooms? I have seen results of some expensive but fully equipped private schools and they looked excellent. I tend to believe the few good results came from there leaving the kids of the masses with the long list of terrible results.

Sigh! I remember back in my Secondary School days - the issue was not how to pass WAEC, but rather how many A's you could land as a student. Now, just mere making 5 credits is now a cause for Thanksgiving! God help us!

Does this mean that even private schools that collect up to 200,000k  as school fees per term could also not perform?

Lets hope the Government will now wake up and rehabilitate the Public schools.

What a shameful country!!!

madam L:

Do they need to probe to see the empty laboratories and dilapidated class rooms? I have seen results of some expensive but fully equipped private schools and they looked excellent. I tend to believe the few good results came from there leaving the kids of the masses with the long list of terrible results.

Dont even trust the Private Secondary schools. Most of the good grades that come from them is as a result of "Man know man''(MKM) intended to impress the guardians of the pupils. Its an open secret that private "teach" their pupils during external exams after carefully settling/compromising the invigilator.

well i'm not surprised. how many students do u see walking on the streets in broad daylight when they should be in school. all educational ethics are upheld only in private schools now, from primary school to our universities anything government is a write-off.
-teachers/lecturers are not properly motivated.
-students dont even have what it takes to be properly educated: labs without instruments, libraries without books, schools without computers (haba in this age and time)
-a system(including parents) thats corrupt from the grassroots that even common entrance can be settled without d child doing for exams
-and a government that cares less or doesnt even care(maybe they dont know dat education makes other countries better than us because they have an edge to be more productive & wiser)


it is not too late to retrace our steps because really they may not be our future but they are the future of Nigeria. i hope yar'adua and his gang really intend to do something about and please us for once.

The FG should start by probing the recipients of its investment money. There is no need to chase the wind.

The FG failed in many areas such as:
Dilapidated or absent school infrastructure
Owing wages for teachers
No modern and adequate teacher training

I visited a public school in Benin city and I was in shock to see that the school had no chairs for school children. Some children had to bring their own chairs from home. What is more shameful than that?

In conclusion, NIGERIA HAS NO LEADERSHIP.

I recommend recolonisation of Nigeria to save the citizens from the strangle hold of its Nigerian elitist leadership.

Every body is complaining about poor

Witi:

Can you imagine these fools blaming the poorly motivated teachers for the failure of the students. The highest paid Secondary School Teacher don't earn up to 60,000 Naira that is somebody that must have worked for at least 15 years how can such person put in his best, You need to pay visit to a nearby public school: One of the things that will catch your attention are the empty laboratories, inadequate chairs and tables for Teachers and Students and Poorly equipped Library so what investment are they talking about.
Also the decadence in the nations tertiary Institutions (Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities) caused mainly by negligence on the part of government is another source of the problem products from these Institutions are nothing to write home about.
Generally, the Present Infrastructure in the Nations Education system decayed, and don't have the capacity for the kind of output is try to produce. The Government need to sit up and do there part by upgrading Infrastructures (Library, Laboratories and Class rooms), Teachers salary and welfare before they start blaming people for there failures.

i agree with u to some extent but in secondary school good library ,laboratories and classrooms are not criteria for passing waec afterall so many people went to school where all this facilities were not put in place i among them and still passed with distinctions infact in some subjects we had no teacher but we still passed do u know how many times some student finished P.N Okeke, Ababio and other text books back then.its just that this generation are not serious they do not read instead they depend on expo.i guess if they could treat the problem of examination malpractise it will reduce failure.some student even depend on expo up to the point that they dont know anything even if they still use expo they would still fail.

Witi:

The Presidency has ordered an investigation into the mass failure of students in this year’s School Certificate Examinations.

Some school heads may be punished to avert a re-occurrence of the "woeful" performance, it was gathered yesterday.

Most secondary school leavers failed the May-June examinations conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Of the candidates who sat for this year’s May/June Senior Secondary Examinations, 84% failed.

According to WAEC, only 356, 981 or 25.99 per cent of the 1,373,009 candidates (755,955 males and 617,054 females) got five credit passes and above in English, Mathematics and at least three other subjects.

Of those who passed, 116,729 are Science-oriented; 33,024 in Social Science class, and 100,632 in the Arts.

Of the 1,200,765 candidates who registered for the NECO examinations, only 126,500 or 10.7% secured five credits, including English and Mathematics.

Also, 289,966 candidates or 24.5% came out with five credits without English and Mathematics.

The Presidency, shocked by the dismal performance, ordered a probe.

A source said: "The first family is a family of teachers. President Umaru Yar’Adua is uncomfortable with the results and he has asked the Ministers of Education to investigate the poor performance.

"I think the Minister of State for Education, Hajiya Aishat Dukku, is coordinating the investigation into the mass failure. Dukku has been in the education sector for more than two decades.

"I cannot tell you members of the panel but it is made up of the representatives of the examinations bodies and other stakeholders. The panel has been meeting, evaluating data and factors in the last few weeks. The assignment is being treated with urgency.

"The essence of the probe is to identify what went wrong and how to rectify the problems. The government believes that we cannot continue like this.

"After the results have been known, the President will rub minds with state governors on the recommendations and the way forward."

Hajiya Dukku confirmed the investigation.

She said: "We have called all the examinations bodies; we have sat down; we have set up a committee to look into the poor performance in Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examinations in WAEC, NECO and NABTEB.

"And we have just concluded the investigation and the report is right here on my table. But we have not reviewed the findings of the committee. We have not studied it.

"We have, however, said that whoever is responsible for this mass failure, whether it is the head of department, a teacher or a chief executive will face the law because the government cannot be spending huge amount of money on our schools and yet the outcome is nothing.

"We believe strongly that there must be value for our investment in education; there must be value for money.

"If we are to be among the world’s largest economies by the year 2020, education should be the driving force. The drivers cannot be those that are performing poorly in their examinations. The drivers cannot be half-baked; they have to be well-equipped and it is only through education that they can be. So, we are ready to face this failure squarely and find solutions to the causes."

By Yusuf Ali, The Nation Newspaper,  3rd November 2009 Issue
http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/24062/1/Presidency-probes-mass-failure-in-SSSCE-NECO-exams/Page1.html

How come the the percentage of 5 credit pass (including english and mathematics) are so far apart for WAEC and NECO? Are those two exams not suppose to be testing the same knowledge and awarding equivalent certificates
The mere fact that WAEC 25.99% has while NECO has 10.7% shows that even the institutions that are suppose to measure knowledge are dysfunctional and very unreliable.

The education system is bad but how bad?We can't determine because WAEC and NECO have figures that are too far apart.

Probe this, probe that and nothing will  come out of it. it is just another way of greasing the hands of some people who could  not tap directly from FG. Remember elumelu and co.

The truth is gradually coming out. Corrupt and Dull leaders breed corrupt and dull offsprings.
You all lash out at our leaders all the time. Well, we the offsprings inherited their genes. We are just as DULL and STUPID as they are.

But why this mass failure Guys no just dey read again, simple!

gentleemmy:

But why this mass failure Guys no just dey read again, simple!

watin them go read?

If the Students have not learnt then the teacher has not taught .

I shake my head in dismay   at what our educational system has degenerated into in this country, how disheartening!!! And this stupid Hajiya that knows next to nothing is blaming it on the school heads! I feel like giving her a good knock on her head   . . .  stupid woman!

What investment has govt. made into education. Teachers/lecturers must battle it out all the time before they are partially heard. I pity this country, mortgaging the future of it's leaders, how sad!    I don't even know what to say again. All our outcries just fall on deaf ears! Imagine, setting up a committee!!! What imbecility!!! A n ordinary toddler knows the problem with education in this country! They sit their dirty asses out there and do whatever they like.   Walahi, if i place curses on these lunatics. . . . . . .      

Morons of leaders!!!

ojofu:

watin them go read?

If the Students have not learnt  then the teacher has not taught .  

Them suppose read their books of course (notebooks, textbooks, workbooks and evry, evry). The teacher can teach but not every one will grab, thats just the truth of the matter.

Teacher go only try teach and cannot put that knowledge directly into the pupil's brain, abi. At least I once taught and this is what I do -After teaching and summarizing, I try to evaluate and if 80% of my class population gets it then I forget the rest.

as for me I dont think the poor results is from the school, but from the so called WASSCE and NECO. Maybe they want more candidates by next year, or it was planned to be so. can you imagine neco releasing their result less than 2 weeks after marking? will such actions produce the right result? NO!
I had a younger brother who wrote GCE when he was in SS2, and when the result came he had 7 credits, 1 B and 1 D. This same boy managed to have 4credits, the rest are P and Ds in NECO when in SS3. I think the probing team should investigate the NECO/WAEC marking scheme and the students answers booklets. until CURRUPTION is DELETED in NIGERIA, there is NO WAY FORWARD. I again thought ' is that a way/plan to reduce the population in our universities?' ONLY GOD KNOWS

VALIDATOR:

How come  the the percentage of 5 credit pass (including english and mathematics) are so far apart for WAEC and NECO? Are those two exams not suppose to be testing the same knowledge and awarding equivalent certificates
The mere fact that WAEC 25.99%  has while NECO has 10.7% shows that even the institutions that are suppose to measure knowledge are dysfunctional and very unreliable.

The education system is bad but how bad?We can't determine because WAEC and NECO have figures that are too far apart.

Well, an explanation may be that WAEC is typically taken exclusively by SS3 students of secondary schools, while anyone can get a NECO form and take the exam. It may just well be different sample spaces you're comparing.

I agree with you, though. It's an abysmal result.

[

gentleemmy:

Them suppose read their books of course (notebooks, textbooks, workbooks and evry, evry). The teacher can teach but not every one will grab, thats just the truth of the matter.

Teacher go only try teach and cannot put that knowledge directly into the pupil's brain, abi. At least I once taught and this is what I do -After teaching and summarizing, I try to evaluate and if 80% of my class population gets it then I forget the rest.

I Agree with but lets not forget that before this Neco and Waec, the entire educational system was shut down because of strike (ASUU, Nut etc) and sometime you go jak well,well but you no understand until someone put you through.
See, I am student, though i have written my final paper. If I tell you what we went through in the hands of teacher, you would prefer staying at home reading than going to school at all.

ONE OF OUR TEACHER ONCE TOLD US THAT THE LECTURE NOTE HE IS USING TO TEACH IN THIS JET AGE WAS PREPARED TWENTY- FIVE YEARS(25) AGO.

Do we still have teachers in Nigeria? I mean the age-old committed, dedicated and emulatable men and women who devoted their lives to ensuring the  development of the students' intelligence?Those who took pride in seeing what the seed of greatness they 've painstaking sowed in the lives of their students bloom and blossom?I doubt this, since their rewards were said to be in heaven, i guess they have relocated to heaven!

The educational sector is too ugly, lowly funded and[b] poorly motivated, who wants to teach?[/b] I know of a Teacher who spends after-school hours on the internet, doing "yahoo-yahoo"!

They dont have to look too far to see the problem, its so close, WE KNOW IT!

Just another waste of precious money to find out the obvious.
The rot in the educational sector is not a mutually exclusive one. We have failed in almost all areas including health, infrastructures, sports and education. We don't need any soothsayer to tell us the reason for our failure- they are our politicians who incorrectly assume the title of leaders. We cannot solve education only neither can we face electricity. We have to go back to basics if we are serious at all. Ghana was a failed nation but today they are becoming a role model in Africa and beyond. When we are ready to become a good nation, we know what to do. The morons who keep recycling themselves have to go and I support non-violent means. Lets see how many of us will file out to register when the time comes for voters registration.

Is there still mass failure in NECO and SSCE? what with all the expos that litter the tutoring centres and schools?

it never cease to amaze me about the current nigerian leaders. how can they be asking such daft and stupid questions ? have they taken trips to many secondary schools in nigeria to see the unquipped labs, bad lecture rooms, no textbooks, no well quiped libraries, no proper buildings to teach students. how can these students pass when they have to go an pay teachers for private lessons and for parents that cant afford the extra lessons, they fail. also is there proper check and balances put in place to check the accuracy of the markings of the so called teachers that mark the answer booklet of these students ?

i also at a time wrote waec and i only had 1 or 2credits the rest were passes and when i did neco i passed well, only to find out the waec script wasnt market well when someone checked my answer booklet for me as a favor with waec.

whoever advices the governemnt to make such speeaches should bury his/her head in shame because i belive they read the newspapaer on a daily basis. the other day in next234 a publication was made and the picture showed students sitting down on the floor. in exams how can they pass? well i dont blame them because majority of them their children are all abroad studying in good schools so they dont care about the rest that cant afford to travel abroad.

Corruption is permeating to every segment of our National life, leaving only negative results.

Bloody hypocrites,as if they don't know they killed the educational system long ago so much so ven the teachers are so frustrated that the moment they call off one strike action,they embark on another and the Presidency is here talking about a useless probe

THE SO CALLED LEADERS SHOULD BOW THEIR HOLLOW HEADS IN SHAME & RESIGN TO DO PENANCE.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH FROM THESE ABOMINABLE THIEFDERS.

MAY THE ALMIGHTY PUNISH THEM ACCORDINGLY TO THEIR NTH GENERATION FOR THE SORRY STATE THEY HAVE SUBJECTED THE NATION & ITS PEOPLES.

donclemo:

Every body is complaining about poori agree with u to some extent but in secondary school good library ,laboratories and classrooms are not criteria for passing waec afterall so many people went to school where all this facilities were not put in place i among them and still passed with distinctions infact in some subjects we had no teacher but we still passed do u know how many times some student finished P.N Okeke, Ababio and other text books back then.its just that this generation are not serious they do not read instead they depend on expo.i guess if they could treat the problem of examination malpractise it will reduce failure.some student even depend on expo up to the point that they dont know anything even if they still use expo they would still fail.

Well you've made a point in identifying low level of serious among students as a factor but I don't agree with you on the issue of laboratories,library and classrooms. I belong to the first set of student admitted as Secondary School Student to teachers training college 85/86 set and I know the kind of facility we met then in our laboratories, before Nigeria got to this level apart from the poor teachers pay Secondary Schools were fairly equipped, and your point students were more serious and the output was better most. What am saying is that the government should do her part he who goes to equity must go with clean hands

@Poster: It's recurrence not re-occurrence and that is one of the reasons/things that make 84% failure. Students do not know anything.Imagine, an undergra was telling me the other day,'please act fast, am in a haste', instead of am in haste. Look here, I've asked the examiners why the mass failure,and they told me they lower everything to see people get what we see today.Blame students,parents, Teachers,Govt and our carton.

Yahoo-yahoo is a lucrative biz, why should anyone go to school and come out a graduate with no job when he can sit at home and make millions by just clicking a mouse?

And why is government probing anything? Are they dumb? Is there any motivation to learn? are the laboratories equipped? Are the teachers well paid? The students spend half of the time at home because their teachers are on strike and you expect them to pass. Abeg government should probe themselves and stop wasting tax payers money on setting up a useless committee.

Bloody idiots!