ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC ON EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS IN NIGERIA :A CASE OF 2020 WAEC, NECO AND GCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Sometimes in 2019, there was an outbreak of a viral disease (Coronavirus: COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. This epidemic recently turned into a ravaging pandemic which posed a serious threat to global public health and eventually led to the total lockdown of major cites globally, Nigeria inclusive (Lin et al., 2020). This pandemic has also led to the early closure of Schools and Citizens have been advised to isolate themselves and maintain social distancing for the fear of been infected by this deadly virus (Sintema, 2020). Towards the end of March 2020, 27th to be precise through the press briefing by the Minister of Health in Nigeria, all institutions cutting across primary, secondary and tertiary institutions were instructed to close down the current academic session, due to the deadly Coronavirus which was ravaging the whole world.

The advent of the COVID pandemic has not only revealed the poor state of infrastructure and facilities in the health sector of Nigeria but also revealed the reality of the dilapidation and poor funding of the education sector. Aside from the health sector, no other area has suffered the impact of COVID-19 like education.While many countries have easily adapted and switched to virtual classes, in Nigeria, it is not only difficult but also impossible to open our schools virtually due to lack of facilities necessary to operate virtual classes, poor provision of the internet network, unstable power supply, high cost of mobile data and other challenges.Many children were out of school even before the pandemic, and even more, have dropped out due to the pandemic.The learn from home teaching method introduced by the Nigerian ministry of education to teach through radio and television is not yielding the desired result as the electricity supply in the nation is below average and the majority of Nigerians are living below the poverty line and cannot afford televisions or radios.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Due to the outbreak of the pandemic and with schools been told to close down to reduce the spread of the virus,The external examinations(WAEC,NECO and GCE) which was schedule to take place in April ,June and August respectively were been postponed indefinetly by the examination bodies.The WAEC stakes are always high. These exams certify student achievement; they enable objective and transparent student placements into the job market, universities, and for scholarships.because of the high stakes of this examinations students spend, collectively,millions of hours each year cramming for tests that may have limited validity. Unreliable exams blunt the incentives for human capital generation,incentivize bad pedagogy in schools,and undermine employer’s faith in school degrees as a signal of human capital with potential macro implications for the labor market and economy as a whole

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.       The following are the primary objectives

2.       To investigate the effect of the pandemic on external examinations

3.       To find out if student performance in this examination will be affected because of the pandemic

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.       What is the effect of the pandemic on external examination?

2.       In what ways did the pandemic affect the performance of students in 2020 WAEC, GCE and NECO exams?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will provide an insight into the effects of COVID-19 Schools close down on the Senior Secondary School examination. This study will help the administrators to ascertain the level of damages the schools close down has caused. Furthermore, the study will again be helpful for researchers, students and lecturers. Government official, policy makers and schools administrators will benefit from the recommendation of the study.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work is aim to assess the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on external examination in Nigeria using 2020 WAEC,NECO and GCE as a study.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Finance, availability of material and time were limitations the researcher encountered during this study

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

COVID 19: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as illness caused by a novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly called 2019-nCoV),

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION: This is an examination given by someone outside a school, faculty etc