Liberia: Students in Zwedru Allege Disruptions During English Wassce Exam
Zwedru — Senior students at the Salvation Army High School and Zwedru Multilateral High School have raised concerns about what they described as significant disruptions during the administration of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) English test on Wednesday, May 28.
According to students, delays and alleged unprofessional conduct by an assigned examiner negatively impacted their ability to complete the multiple-choice component of the test, which followed the English essay section.
C. Andrew Blawo, a student from the Salvation Army High School, told reporters that while the essay portion was administered on time from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., the second part–the objective questions–was delayed until nearly 11:00 a.m.
“We were expecting to continue with the second part immediately after the essay, but the examiner only came at 10:57 a.m., which was already halfway through the scheduled time,” Blawo said. “Before we could even finish reading the questions, the papers were being collected.”
Blawo added that students appealed for more time to complete the test, but the examiner did not grant their request.
Daniel P. Gawolo, a student of Zwedru Multilateral High School, also alleged that the same examiner engaged in what he described as “intimidating behavior” during the test.
“She arrived late, then came around making noise and issuing threats instead of properly supervising the process,” Gawolo said. “Because she was late at another campus, we also started late at our school.”
When approached for comment, the examiner declined to give her name or speak on record, citing a directive from the WAEC Liberia Central Office that bars examiners from speaking to the media. She explained that, according to WAEC policy, students who leave the exam premises during breaks are not permitted to re-enter once the session resumes.
“WAEC rules state that if the time for a particular paper has elapsed, the scripts must be collected regardless of when a student begins,” she said.
Despite the explanation, affected students argue that the delay was not their fault and insist they were unfairly penalized. Some are now threatening peaceful protest if the matter is not addressed.
“English is a core subject,” said Gawolo. “If we fail it, we fail WASSCE. We may be forced to resit the exam, which puts us at a disadvantage.”
The students are calling on education authorities in Grand Gedeh County and the leadership of their schools to engage with WAEC Liberia and investigate the matter.
As of Thursday morning, neither WAEC Liberia nor the Ministry of Education had issued a statement in response to the students’ concerns.
By FrontPageAfrica.
