The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.
Head of the Nigeria National Office, Mr. Patrick E. Areghan who announced the release of the results on Monday disclosed that a total of 79,229 examiners, comprising 77,173 traditional examiners and 2,056 e-examiners, participated in the coordination and marking of the exam scripts.
A total of 1,607,981 candidates registered for the examination from 20,222 recognized secondary schools in the country out of which 1,601,047 candidates sat the examination.
Areghan disclosed that 1,713 candidates, with varying degrees of special need, registered for the examination, which was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian, curriculum for Senior Secondary School is being used.
Of the total number of candidates that sat the examination in Nigeria, 1,437,629 candidates (89.79%) results have been fully processed and released while 163,418 candidates, representing 10.21per cent have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some issues yet to be resolved.
The HNO assured that efforts were being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released within the next one week.
The analysis of the statistics of performance of the candidates in the examination showed that out of the 1,601,047 candidates that sat the examination, 1,222,505 candidates, representing 76.36 per cent, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics while 1,409,529 (88.04%) candidates, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects, with or without English Language and/or Mathematics.
Of the number of candidates that obtained credits in a minimum of five subjects including Maths and English, 597,811 (37.34) were male while 624,694 (39.02) were female candidates.
The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2021, was 81.70 percent; showing a 5.34percent decrease in performance in this regard.
More female candidates sat for this year’s examination as 804,830 (50.27%) candidates were females, while 796,217 (49.73%) were males.
The HNO disclosed that results of 365,564 candidates, representing 22.83 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.
This, he said, is 11.74 per cent higher than the 10.9 per cent recorded in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2021.
He however lamented that candidates are no longer ready to learn, noting that preparations for examinations are poor as there is over-reliance on the so-called ‘expo’.
“Candidates simply got frustrated when they got into the examination hall and discovered that all they had celebrated was fake. This has pitiably led to some of them failing the examination, which if they had relied on themselves and studied hard, would have passed like many others,” he said, adding that the council would continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice.
He stated stated that schools, supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating examination malpractice are not helping the educational system.
The WAEC boss warned parents to stop funding ‘expo’ for their children.
“Those who indulge in posting items on designated platforms are nothing but destiny destroyers. Beneficiaries of such ‘help’ will never go unpunished as they will never have their results. All hands must be on deck to sanitize the system.” he said.
He decried the increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban.
WASSCE for School Candidates is an international examination, usually conducted, simultaneously, throughout the five member countries of the Council including: The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Though Ghana did not parttake in the examination with its other counterparts in the sub-region, as it is still trying to harmonize its academic calendar, due to the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. As such, the examination is scheduled to take place in Ghana between August 1 and September 1, 2022.
