The University of Liberia has announced that the entire cohort of over 24,000 applicants to first-year studies failed to achieve the minimum passing scores on the university's 2013 undergraduate admissions examination. The content of the admissions examinations is based on the Ministry of Education's standard curriculum, and the subject matter tested in the 2013 admissions examination is no different than in previous years, according to a consultant who was hired by the University of Liberia to reform and manage this year's examination process. What is different is that this year, the university's faculty senate decided that admissions would be based only on raw scores on the admissions examination, disregarding bribery, personal connections, and other non-academic factors that may have played a role in admissions decisions in the past.
At a press conference on August 22, a university spokesman disclosed that not one student met the requirements for passing the undergraduate admissions test. The minimum requirement set by the university is a 50% result in mathematics and 70% in English. Students must achieve both minimum scores to be eligible for admission. While over 300 candidates attained the minimum 50% score in mathematics, not one examination taker achieved a score of 70% in English, according to the spokesman. He was reporting data based on the raw scores; there is no curve┬" or other type of scaling of examination results. (http://allafrica.com/stories/201308220495.html).
At the graduate and professional levels, no candidate who took the examinations for admission to the law school or pharmacy school achieved the minimum required score of 70%. The same score is required for admission to the medical school, and in that examination, 47 applicants did achieve 70% or higher.
The university senate is now reviewing the results to decide whether undergraduate applicants who scored just below the required percentages might be admitted with conditions, such as completing a transitional course┬" in mathematics and English. This group would include the over 1600 undergraduate applicants who scored a minimum of 40% in mathematics and 50% in English, according to the university spokesman. Fewer than 100 graduate and professional school applicants achieved scores that might qualify them for admission with additional conditions and requirements to be set by the respective programs and colleges. The university's academic regulations would apply to all students once they were admitted; no exceptions would be made for students admitted on a conditional basis.
The Minister of Education, finding the examination results implausible, is planning to meet with University of Liberia officials to discuss the situation. All involved appear to be in agreement that the education system in Liberia, where an almost 15-year period of civil war ended 10 years ago, is in dire need of improvement.
Selected resources:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201308220495.html
http://www.voanews.com/content/liberia-university-admission-exam-mass-failures/1737581.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23843578