Towards mitigating the average number of students that fail to passing, West Africa Examination Council [WAEC] do assist by identifying the peculiar weaknesses in the candidate’s ability that earn them poor performance. In furtherance of their commitment, the reasons why candidates fail 2016 Literature in English WAEC – paper 2 are as follow:
Candidate’s Weakness
The chief Examiner outlined the following as the main causes for poor performance of the candidates. Please note, none of the reasons are personal.
- Misinterpretation of questions.
- Violation of rubrics.
- Illegible handwriting.
- Writing of irrelevancies.
- Poor expression
- Poor knowledge of literary appreciation.
- Inability to express answers in good English.
Suggested Remedies
To cause reduction in the trend, the following are notable remedies that can help all the prospective candidates irrespective of the year of writing the exam.
- Candidates should buy and read the prescribed texts.
- Candidates should write their answers clearly.
- Candidates should buttress their points with references from the set texts.
- Candidates should not depend on summary notes alone.
- Candidates should always read the rubrics before they start answering questions.
- Qualified teachers should be employed to teach literature-in-English.
- Teachers should attend workshops and seminars regularly to acquaint themselves with the trends of the subject.
Candidate’s Strength
The Chief Examiners reported that some candidates showed a good knowledge of the set texts. This was evident in their references to the texts in their answers.
