The night
watchman of Nioro Jattaba Basic Cycle School is lingering behind bars following
examination malpractice suspected to have occurred at the school causing the
cancellation of the General Science Paper in the ongoing Gambia Basic Education
Certificate Examination (GABECE) powered by West African Examination Council
(WAEC) on Wednesday 9th May 2012.
Sutay
Bah was arrested along with the Acting Principal and some staff of the School in
Kiang West the Mansakonko region by the Kwenella Police Station.
Their
arrest came after unknown burglar(s) vandalised the offices of the school and
tampered with the exam package containing the Science paper on the eve of the presentation
of the paper.
Numo
Saidykhan, Acting Principal of Nioro Jattaba Basic Cycle School confirmed that
all his staff are back to work after some hours of the police interrogation but
the night watchman, was still in police custody.
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| Nioro Jatta BSC |
Village
sources said the padlocks on two offices including the principal’s office were
broken before the thieves break into the Vice Principal’s office where the
papers were kept.
Upon arriving
at the school in the morning, the WAEC exams supervisor reported the matter to
the WAEC office in Mansakonko who forwarded it to WAEC sub-regional headquarters
in Banjul.
Pateh Bah, the head of the WAEC Gambia Office
confirmed to the Daily Observer Newspaper that “The lock of the
door (at the school) was damaged and envelopes containing 50 question papers
was opened” causing the lost of “two copies of the question paper.”
Students
in the ninth grade would have labelled the parts of an Electric Circuit diagram before going into naming what was
understood to be a popular Tilapia Fish
and its parts as question one and two respectively of the cancelled General
Science theory paper.
After
so many schools have completed a forty question objective paper of the science
subject, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) made emergency calls to
all its exams supervisors across the country to immediately stop the theory
paper.
The
news of exams stoppage was received with mixed feeling by students. While some
are crying for fear of possible delay in their transition to the next grade,
others were with smiling faces for what they see as a relief on them.
A
senior education officer said the scandal responsible for the cancellation of
the paper in such an internationally rated examination, could further stain the
image of the education system in our country in particular and West Africa in
general.Picture: (WAEC National Office)
