Exam monitors give thumbs-up for orderly conduct in the South-south

Top personnel of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) currently on examination monitoring tour of study centres in the South-south geopolitical zone of the country have expressed satisfaction on the administration and conduct of the ongoing 2021_2 Pen-On-Paper (POP) examination as they observe it in the region.

Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship and General Studies (CEGS), Prof. Juliet Inegbedion, who monitored the exam at Fugar Community Study Centre, Fugar, Etsako Central Local Government Area, Edo State, on November 10, 2021, voiced her satisfaction with the way and manner the examination was administered at that community study centre.

She extolled the dedication and commitment of the management team of Fugar Community Study Centre, led by Prof. Jonathan Aliede, in ensuring that there is a steady improvement of the centre.

Similarly, the University Bursar, Dr. Ernest Odeigah, who was at Asaba Study Centre, Asaba, Delta State on November 18, 2021, to observe the conduct of the exam, gave a nod to the way the exercise was administered peacefully and orderly at the centre.

Odeigah commended the centre director, Prof. Chibuogwu Nnaka, for her sterling leadership prowess as epitomised in the newly renovated Exams Hall, which is being used for the first time at the centre.

On Thursday 18 and Friday 19 November, 2021, Prof. Eserinune Mojaye, Director, Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies (OOCAS), was at Calabar Study Centre and Ikom Community Study Centre respectively, both in Cross River State, to monitor the exercise.

Mojaye, like other monitors, expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the 2021_2 POP exam at both centres, while giving the directors of both centres, Prof. Onyeka Iwuchukwu and Dr. Edwin Bassey, a pat on the back for jobs well done.

The Director, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Dr. Greg Onwodi, took his turn on Thursday, 18 November 2021, to visit Port Harcourt Study Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Onwodi said he was very impressed with the serenity and orderliness that characterised the conduct of the exam, and commended the centre director, Dr. Nnenna Nancy Chukwuma and her team for instituting a very sane ambience for the examination.

He, however, suggested that the centre should embark on rigorous advocacy while the university management should work towards upping the provision of necessary infrastructure to boost enrolment.

Augustine Ukwueze, a professor of Guidance and Counseling and past centre director of Asaba Study Centre, on Monday, November 22, 2021, visited Sapele Community Study Centre, Sapele, Delta State, to monitor the ongoing POP examination.

Ukwueze, who was received by the centre director, Dr. Anthony Kaine, expressed delight at how the exam was conducted orderly and commended the management of the centre for doing a good work.

The same Monday witnessed the visit of two top personnel of the university: Prof. Gregory Okagbare, Director, Learner Support Services (LSS) and Dr. Chidinma Onwubere, an Associate Professor and the immediate-past Head of the Department of Mass Communication, to Port Harcourt Study Centre for exam monitoring.

While both dons expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the exam and commended the management, staff and students of the centre for orderly and peaceful conduct, Onwubere, however, called on the management of the university to address with urgency the inadequate illumination of the main auditorium, which is the epicentre of the POP exam at the study centre.

“If I were a student, I wouldn’t be able to write exams in this hall because it is too poorly illuminated. Management should urgently do something about this. Ventilation as well is not adequate, as I have heard a student complain this morning when she was asked to strap on a nose-mask, that she might suffocate if compelled to wear a nose-mask because there is no cross ventilation.

“Howbeit, the issue of ventilation is manageable because the hall is large. The area that needs an immediate intervention by management is the issue of illumination, the hall is too poorly lit for exams,” Onwubere said.