Obtaining statistics
on examination performance from the West African Examinations Council
in
For the WASCCE, on the other hand, candidates all over the West African region are facing the same questions. The papers are marked according to a uniform marking scheme, and results are evaluated according to the performance across the entire region. Thus, when a candidate scores A1 at WASSCE, he or she is in the top tier of performance relative to candidates across the entire West African region.
It follows from this
that to compare
In general, there are
several ways by which an examining authority can ‘fix’ the results of
an examination. This ‘fixing’ could be done by: 1) Manipulating the
level of questions for the examination. The questions could be made
harder or easier than they had been in previous years. 2) Altering the
marking scheme used to mark the examination papers 3) Adjusting the
bands used for awarding of grades in individual subjects. For instance
it could be decided that whereas in previous years in the BECE in
Sierra Leone a 1 in a particular subject, say Mathematics, corresponded
to a mark above 80%, say, a 1 would now be awarded for a mark above
75%, say. 4) When all else fails, the entire set of scores for all
candidates could be adjusted according to some set criterion. The NPSE
marks announced to the public in
A comparison of
WASSCE results across the region reveals
The
true magnitude of the Sierra Leonean dysfunction has been carefully
kept hidden from the general public. Indeed to lay hands on these
statistics was a formidable challenge. It is as if we were competing in
a football match and
The table below gives a three year comparison of performance at WASSCE for WAEC member countries in the major
subjects. The
complete table, including all
subjects can be downloaded here. The comparison with
TABLE 1. THREE-YEAR (2008-2010) MAY/JUNE COMPARATIVE
TREND ON PERFORMANCE
IN MEMBER
COUNTRIES IN
WASSCE
Number and
Percentage of
Students Obtaining Grades A1 to C6 in Member Countries
SUBJECT |
|
SIERRA
LEONE |
THE
|
||||||
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Agricultural
Science |
436,751 44.31% |
491,972 46.41% |
483,888 47.25% |
1951 9.11% |
3548 13.73% |
5600 18.19% |
829 13.73% |
1,332 23.10% |
1,037 17.63% |
Biology |
427,644 33.94% |
383,112 28.59% |
645,633 49.65% |
466 2.46% |
599 2.74% |
1481 5.94% |
150 7.35% |
212 10.62% |
433 20.32% |
Chemistry |
185,949 44.44% |
204,725 43.69% |
236,059 50.70% |
184 3.54% |
190 3.15% |
247 3.86% |
115 16.50% |
125 19.32% |
173 24.20% |
Economics |
592,939 49.23% |
577,345 45.44 |
690,949 56.25% |
672 3.84% |
673 3.21% |
2482 9.70% |
317 7.33% |
544 12.45% |
441 9.82% |
English Lang
(Core) |
446,285 35.03% |
563,294 41.55% |
459,404 35.13% |
1775 7.41% |
5431 18.57% |
4849 13.72% |
248 3.07% |
1,056 13.18% |
682 8.69% |
Financial
Accounting |
76,663 35.55% |
82,887 38.45% |
110,819 52.21% |
10.48% |
17.16% |
4682 32.49% |
137 6.87% |
312 13.81% |
488 20.81% |
French |
1,735 54.46% |
1,765 45.55% |
2,994 74.50% |
81 42.70% |
54 28.42% |
99 46.70% |
80 24.77% |
68 19.88% |
58 21.89% |
Further Maths |
13,293 37.81% |
11,952 31.26% |
13,829 36.88% |
191 7.77% |
469 17.43% |
188 7.06% |
81 51.59% |
66 43.14% |
110 56.12% |
Geography |
237,158 34.42% |
307,539 41.12% |
368,833 50.01% |
230 3.02% |
8.08% |
800 7.78% |
478 16.25% |
860 24.88% |
923 28.19% |
Government |
465,317 58.98% |
501,503 60.48% |
517,618 66.92% |
3285 34.84% |
43.49% |
4751 33.67% |
701 19.84% |
682 19.73% |
292 8.69% |
Health Science |
7,403 42.33% |
10,683 52.43% |
12,345 63.13% |
252 5.00% |
8.82% |
1044 10.01% |
57 27.27% |
162 57.45% |
97 29.57% |
History |
15,626 27.97% |
15,692 28.47% |
16,403 14.52% |
3979 37.21% |
39.66% |
5785 36.59% |
1,581 29.79% |
1,628 32.16% |
1,867 37.81% |
Lit-in-English |
160,664 41.83% |
160,788 40.01% |
138,948 36.94% |
1571 9.45% |
1141 5.56% |
1539 5.96% |
348 16.63% |
342 16.38% |
327 17.60% |
Mathematics |
726,398 57.28% |
634,382 47.04% |
548,065 41.95% |
828 3.46% |
942 3.22% |
1811 5.15% |
210 2.64% |
250 3.19% |
281 3.65% |
Physics |
200,345 48.26% |
222,722 47.83% |
237,756 51.27% |
425 9.86% |
322 6.54% |
211 4.05% |
113 19.93% |
142 19.16% |
190 33.75% |
The table below gives
more recent, composite results, from 2010 to 2012, but only for
In 2012, out of
58,161 candidates who sat the WASSCE in
The second area we looked at was government funding of education. Our figures come from the Unesco Institute for Statistics ( www.uis.unesco.org ). We show the figures for educational expenditure for major non-Arab African countries, but excluding countries affected by conflict, natural disaster etc.
The figures show that
in terms of public expenditure on education as a percentage of total
government expenditure,
The Gbamanja
Commission was set up in response to the poor performance of Sierra
Leonean candidates in the 2008 BECE and WASCCE examinations. The
Commission’s report (see Gbamanja Report)
was released in March 2010. The government issued its White Paper on
the Gbamanja Report (see Government
White Paper on Gbamanja Report) in August, 2010. The report
contained short and medium term recommendations, most of which
Government accepted in its White Paper. Almost four years on from
Gbamanja and a system which the Commission itself described as
‘dysfunctional’, it is but appropriate to inquire into what progress
has been made, as we have attempted to do here. What progress in
results and funding, as outlined above.
What progress in implementation of Gbamanja recommendations? The major
one that has been implemented is the
changeover from 6-3-3-4 to 6-3-4-4. Sierra Leonean school candidates
(as opposed to private candidates) did not take the WASSCE in 2013, and
the first batch of products of the four-year SSS
are scheduled to take the WASSCE this year. One waits with bated
breath to see what effect the change will have on the exam performance.
However, our adoption of 6-3-4-4 where the other WAEC countries operate
a 6-3-3-4 system is really an admission of the dysfunctionality and
inefficiency of the system. It should be no more than a temporary
measure. Why on earth should the Nigerian system be able to produce
results that so far outstrip
What of the other Gbamanja recommendations? What has been done to remedy the crisis situation
that Gbamanja
was shown in 2008 “evidenced by
low quality of teaching and
learning resulting in poor pupils’ performance in examinations, high
incidence of teacher attrition, and a high school dropout rate”. We have seen very little change, very little
indication that the authorities indeed understand that they have a
crisis on their hands that has implications for
Overall, not much appears to have been done. The priority has been to build roads
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