Stakeholders Caught Unawares By Suspension Of TOEFL Exam

Following the sudden suspension of hitherto accredited centres for foreign-based Graduate Records Examination (GRE) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), candidates already registered to write the examination during the next schedule are yet to be formally communicated.
 This just as they have kick against what they described as unfair treatment by the test administrators.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP revealed that many candidates were yet to learn of the development and expressed their surprise and disappointment at the decision of the test body.
In a telephone interview with the Principal of Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja, Lagos, one of the schools that register candidates for the exams, Mr. OluyemiFaleke, said he was surprised that an organised body like the Educational Testing Service (ETS) could take such position without adequate regard for its partners.
“Could you imagine that I just registered 10 candidates for TOEFL last month and I kept wondering why I was yet to receive a reply on the schedule of their appointment and timetables. If this is true, I think it deserves a rethink and reversal. If the complaint is that there is corruption, I think there are other ways of addressing that than suspension with immediate effect,” Faleke said.
In a similar development, the Director of a United Kingdom-based education consultancy firm, GT-Empirica, Mrs. Ola Toyo, said she was yet to be properly briefed of the development and pledged to find out and get back to our reporter.
A source from the Federal Ministry of Education who craved anonymity said even though the ministry was yet to learn of the development, the decision is not a good omen for the educational sector of the country.
He said, “Even though Nigeria is going through security challenges, it is not enough to say that Nigerians should not be given the opportunity to study overseas. After all, security challenge is not peculiar to Nigeria alone”.
He, however, gave the assurance that relevant authorities will look into the matter and find lasting solutions.
In the same vein, the former Principal of Providence City College, Yaba, Lagos, Mr. Adekunle Akinade, said the development was not only strange but also uncalled for and therefore insisted that stakeholders should mobilise against it.
Also, an outpouring of frustration by angry Nigerian students on different social media has followed the announcement, with many of them suggesting that the level of corruption in the country was the chief reason behind the decision.
One of the comments by a user read, “They only cited administrative issues as the reason for this drastic step. For me, I think they have found out the runs that take place in our various test centres.”
LEADERSHIP recalls that Prometric, the regional test administrators for ETS worldwide, had last Thursday cancelled Nigeria’s test centres until further notice, which was a follow-up to the initial barring of Nigerians from registering for the exams online.
A statement on ETC website says: “Due to security concerns in Nigeria, GRE and TOEFL testing in the country has been suspended for an indefinite period. Candidates who have appointments to take the TOEFL or GRE Tests will be contacted by ETS to process a refund.”
The most glaring implication of this development is that candidates willing to take either tests will have to travel to neighbouring countries where there are licensed centres to take them.
Not satisfied with the reason provided by the administrators, Chidube Ezeozue, a Cambridge-based Nigerian, has created an online petition asking ETS to provide a more detailed explanation for the suspension of the testing services in Nigeria and to also lift the suspension as soon as possible.

- Leadership

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