The West African Examination Council has explained reasons for adopting the e-marking system, saying it is an elixir for producing reliable examination results.
This came as the council allayed the fears of experienced examiners that the initiative would result in their exclusion from marking WAEC scripts.
The council’s Deputy Registrar, Dr. Modupe Oke, stated this while addressing stakeholders in Lagos.
She spoke at a seminar while presenting a paper titled “Examiners: Let us talk about your views on the e-marking of candidates’ scripts at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Nigeria.”
Oke, alongside the WAEC Registrar/Chief Executive, Dr. Iyi Uwadie, co-authored the paper.
The council inaugurated the pilot e-marking of WASSCE scripts in 2013 using the November/December diet, with Biology 3 (practical paper) in Lagos State.
But Oke, while explaining the rationale behind the innovation, said the measure was to key producing reliable, standardised and more believable examination results.
Oke, who admitted that the procedure was still facing some teething challenges, noted that the council would soon overcome these difficulties.
According to her, the fresh initiative will enable the council to overcome the challenges in the manual scoring technique.
She said, “Manual scoring of essays and practical tests also takes considerable time due to logistics involved in scripts control and movement, number of days required by the examiners to mark the scripts and record the scores manually. Time is also required for independent checking of the marked scripts and marks transferred by checkers.
“E-marking has the potential of reducing the number of examiners and days for marking, and enhancing reliability in scoring.”
According to Oke, findings from 219 examiners that participated in the pilot e-marking scheme last year showed that it is more effective and efficient than manual marking.
The Head of National Office, Mr. Charles Eguridu, on the occasion, said the initiative was part of the council’s strategic plans to lift the conduct of its examinations to loftier heights.
Represented by the Director of Administration, Mr. Stephen Taiwo, the HNO, while urging stakeholders to embrace the technique, said e-marking is practised across the globe nowadays.
Also, the WAEC E-marking Coordinator, Mr. Chukwumaeze Oforha, allayed the fears of experienced examiners that the method would cause their disengagement from the exercise.
Rather, e-marking, he said, would encourage them, just as it would ensure more remuneration for them.
Oforha added that the technique was faster, accurate, valid and more cost effective than the manual marking.
He said, “It is a convenient marking technique. With it, there is accuracy and validity. Examiners can conveniently mark the scripts from the comfort of their homes using the WAEC-provided modems. Again, we are not doing away with experienced examiners. They are still relevant in the system.”
source: punch
No comments:
Post a Comment