Why We Won’t Adopt Computer Based Test, By WAEC

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said that the adoption and full implementation of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode will not be feasible for now, due to the nature of its examinations.

WAEC’s Head of National Office (HNO), Dr Charles Eguridu disclosed this at an interactive forum with journalists in Abuja.

He revealed that it would amount to “intellectual dishonesty’’ for him to promise that the council would introduce CBT in the next five years or the near future.

Eguridu stressed that the purpose of education is to prepare people for life, not to pass examinations; hence the need to examine different domains which CBT cannot accommodate.

“There is what we call the cognitive domain; that is what you have learnt that you can put in your head. There is also what we call affective domain that has to do with your emotions. There is also what we call the psychomotor domain, that is skills which you can express using your hands and your body.

“I am yet to see any education expert who will tell you that you can measure the psychomotor domain using CBT. Any test that will use computer to evaluate who will be a good carpenter cannot be a valid test,” he explained.

He said the examinations conducted by the council took into cognizance the three domains that measured ability to recall, apply and practicalise.