By Ibraheem Daramy
Listening to Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad, there is no denying how far we have slid backwards in our education standards. But what I find most disingenuous is the finger pointing, even when the rest of those very fingers are pointing in the opposite direction. There is no way out of the woods if we continue on this trajectory.
In one notable pronouncement, the President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, during his recent meeting with the people of Makeni, singled out the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) as being responsible for fraud in our examinations. This is déjà vu, except that other players were absolved. Alhaji Alpha Osman Timbo, when he was Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education (MBSSE), described the fraud at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) as systematic, deep rooted and widespread. He said it was a massive enterprise. And it still is, unfortunately, Mr. Timbo.
I used to be part of the team in Bombali that monitored public examinations. Yes, I said I used to be, because I am not anymore. What I witnessed during a routine visit to one WAEC designated centre was why I stopped being part of the monitoring team.
When we arrived, I saw one of the officials assigned to the centre rush towards the classrooms and alert the candidates that we were there. I knew this because I tailed him, given how suspicious he looked. I even captured him on tape as he relayed his message. From the curious looks on the faces of his colleagues higher up the chain, it was obvious he was their emissary.
My instincts urged me to break ranks, but I persisted and eventually got into a room that I later realised had been set aside exclusively for reproducing examination materials with answers already written on them. The two young men in that room were so composed that there were no signs of remorse, panic or tension whatsoever. As a matter of fact, they behaved like sworn officers of the law carrying out a legitimate assignment. They looked at me as though I had breached a strict restraining order.
What shocked me even more was when I saw the students who came to collect the pre answered papers. Two of them were my nieces, while another two were children or wards of very close family friends. They told me how much their parents and guardians had spent to have their names placed on the list of “special candidates.” I felt as though the ground beneath my feet was caving in. I was overwhelmed by what I had to process in those few minutes.
Now you can understand why I am no longer part of the monitoring team.
In my conversations with two distinguished academics, each serving as Vice Chancellor and Principal of two of our public universities, they painted a very grim picture of our education standards. I cannot say I was surprised. These are fine gentlemen who wish they had the leverage to enforce holistic reforms aimed at improving standards. But notwithstanding the challenge posed by invisible players holding them back, they still went ahead and established systems dedicated exclusively to quality assurance.
These two men, and by the way, they are close friends, did not hide their frustrations over the quality of some of the students they admit. Ironically, they told me that those with the best entry qualifications are often the weakest academically.
My response was exactly what they expected. If you believe a student has not met the minimum academic standards, then you cannot promote him or her.
The other day, I received a delegation of more than fifty students asking me to prevail upon one of my VC&P friends to make compromises that would enable them to graduate. I made the call anyway, but I was not surprised when it was unsuccessful because those very students simply had not met all the requirements.
There is a nationwide ban on camping for public examinations. I can confirm that some school heads are violating that directive. There is a school in Makeni that collected three hundred (300) leones per candidate for camping during the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The other day, a young man I know called and asked me to send him some money. I reminded him that his family had already paid for his upkeep while he was in camp, so there was no need for more. He replied that he needed the money in the examination hall so that they could assist him in answering the questions.
I know it was a desperate measure to deploy fully armed members of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces to our examination centres. But given the failure of many of the other stakeholders, I think we should cut the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education, Conrad Sackey, some slack. What else would you rather he do under the current circumstances?
I also think our police friends have not offered much, apart from their well known expertise in soliciting personal advantage. A young police officer confided in me that some officers lobby their commanders to be assigned to specific examination centres, promising in return to bring back “returns.”
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