Order pass power:

Gendarmes & Police to ‘invigilate’ 2017 GCE

- Minister dictates “impossible” conditions on doubting GCE Registrar

-Also reassures candidates, parents of security measures

-Special accommodation centers created to harbor unregistered candidates

By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

Secondary Education minister on visit to SW and NW

The practical part of the 2017 GCE exams will begin today, Monday, 15 May 2017 throughout the country and there is still hope that students who are yet to register for the examinations especially in the North West and South West regions will also sit the exams. The Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Massena NgalleBibehe has instructed the Registrar of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Board, GCE, Humphrey EkemaMomono to create special accommodation centers that shall receive these unregistered but interested candidates.

                NgalleBibehe gave the orders on 10 May, during an outing to the North West region to assess the level of preparedness of some GCE accommodation centres ahead of the end of course examinations. He also gave assurances of security measures taken by government to ensure that the exams are written hitch-free. The written part of the exams will begin on 12 June 2017.

                The Minister upheld a suggestion by the principal of GBHS Kimbo, Marceline Mbinglo, who during a working session at the regional delegation for secondary education, suggested that students who had not yet registered should be given the opportunity to also register and write.

                “Your Excellency, I think that those who did not register for one reason or the other might pose as a security threat to this year’s exams because most of them can be angry to see that their friends are taking the exams. It will be a nice thing if it can be made possible that those who did not succeed to register can still show up with their registration money on the day of exams, register and take the exams,” she suggested.

                It should be mentioned that though the GCE Board Registrar rejected Mbinglo’s suggestion, saying it was a “mission impossible” from a logistic and technical stand point, the Minister upheld the suggestion and urged all interested candidates to avail themselves at the special accommodation centres created and also write the exams.

                Hear EkemaMonono: “It is impossible for a candidate to be registered on the same day, given a candidate’s number in the computer software, given a timetable and vital other information. Besides, question papers’ and answer sheets are sent to accommodation centers according to the number of candidates registered at these centres.

                However rationale and practical Ekema’s arguments were, they were brushed aside by the Minister, who gave him firm orders to create special registration centers and make it possible for all those who did not register for the 2017 session to also write the exams.

                During the working session with the minister, participants including the Governor of NW region, AdolpheLelel’Afrique, the Director of Examinations at MINESEC, the registrars and board chairs of the GCE and BAC Boards, examiners etc all took turns to downplay concerns expressed by some stakeholders in the exams. The concerns included notably the security of schools and candidates, unpreparedness of the schools and their candidates, absence of the names of some duly registered candidates on the official lists, non-completion of syllabuses among others.

                About security, Governor Lelel’Afrique of the NW region reassured that security will be stepped up to cover as many centres as possible.

                “I cannot assure you that it will be possible for all the GCE and BAC centres to have police or gendarmes. But we have to be vigilant enough as to guarantee the security of all candidates sitting the exams,” he said.

                It also emerged from the working session, which also witnessed the participation of heads of Accommodation Centers, Principals, Education Secretaries of Confessional and Lay private schools and trade union leaders that some forty thousand five hundred and seventy three (40,573) candidates registered for the GCE in the North West; 1,651 for BAC and some 12,277 for technical exams.

                It is thus hoped that the acceptance of unregistered candidates to sit the exams and the security guarantees given by the government will go a long way to put an end to fears that the exams might not hold this year due of the precarious socio-political climate prevailing in the North West and South West regions.