....NGO questions introduction of WAEC scratch card
Kumasi, Feb 29, GNA - Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), a human rights and advocacy group, has commended the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for creating a website for candidates to check their examination results on line without necessarily going to the head office of the council. The NGO, however, questioned the rationale behind the sale of scratch cards, which candidates had to buy at 25,000 cedis to enable them access the website.
These were contained in a statement issued in Kumasi on Saturday and signed by Messrs Appiah Kusi Adomako, Administrator and Godwin Benin, Secretary respectively of the NGO.
It said if the intention of WAEC was to decentralise the operations of the council, then the sale of the card was not relevant. The Foundation wondered whether many of candidates knew how to browse the Internet, a candidate outside the country could check his or her results and wanted to know how students in the rural areas without access to computers could known results.
The NGO also wondered whether WAEC was not exposing the candidates to exploitation by Internet caf=E9 operators and also queried whether the new system was not a way of raising money for the council. The Foundation expressed regretted that the council was making the purchase of the card compulsory.
It said if it were not so, why didn't the council not post the November examination results for private candidates to them because candidates had submitted stamped self-addressed envelopes to the council.
"To us as an organisation representing students and Ghanaian youth, we are of the view that it is not necessary for candidates to buy any card. The council is not the first body to publish results on line."
The statement said the Association of Certified Chartered Accounts (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), TOEFL, SAT of the US College Board do same but do not charge candidates for viewing their results on line.
