The Gambia Basic Secondary Education Certificate Examination (GABECE), under the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), has just started.
Grade nine students across the country are writing their exams to enable them pass to another level of education, and gain academic excellence in life.
However, we are very much concerned about the way and manner the exam is being conducted, thus our call for vigilance and proper invigilation throughout the period.
Of recent, few schools were been found wanting with regard to examination malpractice, and we therefore urge our school authorities to take note of the practice and take necessary measures to avert it.
Students, as we always emphasize in this column and other pages of this paper, should always read their books and understand their lessons ahead of exams.
Teachers should also conduct the exams in an atmosphere of adhering to the examination rules and regulations.
There should be no room for cheating, either emanating from the students or their teachers in exchange for rewards.
We urge the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to ensure that any school that is found wanting at the end of the day pays the price for their actions.
Exams are meant to examine the competence and understanding of the students to the best of their knowledge, but not only to pass the exam.
Helping students to pass during exams is a serious crime, and any student or teacher found doing so should be prosecuted.
The practice is not in the interest of neither the students nor their teachers.
It would also undermine the quality of education that should be offered in our schools.
Teachers should also stop giving students guidelines ahead of exams, as this could sometimes lead to failure of students, especially if those areas did not come in the actual exam.
It is our conviction that the quality and standard of our education should not be compromised, under any circumstances.
