The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced the release of the second series edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, for private candidates, otherwise known as General Certificate Examination.

WAEC said a total of 48.61 per cent of the total number of candidates that took part in the examination secured credits in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.

On Monday, the head of Nigeria’s office of WAEC, Patrick Areghan, said the examination was written from November 12, 2021, to Wednesday, December 22, 2021 by a total of 51,444 candidates out of 52, 973 registered candidates.

He said: “25,008 candidates representing 48.61 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, of this number, 12, 272 were male candidates, while 12,736 were female candidates.”

He added that there is an encouraging 8.79 per cent improvement in performance in the last examination.

Meanwhile, Mr Areghan said the non-availability of the National Identification Number (NIN) will not stop candidates from sitting for the May/June 2021 examination.

Breakdown

Giving a further breakdown of the results, the HNO said among the total number of candidates were 131 with varying degrees of special needs. He said their results have also been processed and are being released along with those of other candidates.

He said out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, 49,584 candidates, representing 96.38 per cent, have their results fully processed and released while 1,860 candidates, representing 3.62 per cent, have a few of their subjects still being processed due to “some errors on the part of the candidates.”

He, however, said efforts are being made to release their results.

Speaking on the performance of the candidates, Mr Areghan said: “32,637 candidates representing 63.44 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics), out of which 15,832 were males and 16,805 were females.

Withheld results

He said the results of 3,968 candidates, representing 7.71 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.

“The cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for determination in due course. All decisions will thereafter be communicated to the affected candidates,” Mr Areghan said.

Improvement

Comparing the results with that of the 2019 and 2020 results, Mr Areghan said those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, in the 2019 and 2020 examination were 35.99 per cent and 39.82 per cent, respectively.

He added that there was a 8.79 per cent improvement in the examination.

On NIN

Speaking on the non-availability of the National Identification Number (NIN) by some candidates, Mr Areghan said no registration will be rejected because of lack of NIN.

“We have made provisions for candidates who do not have their NIN and we have made it clear to principals to write down the names of candidates without NIN; we have a way to input their names in our database,” Mr Areghan said.

Low registration for 2022 WASSCE

Mr Areghan used the opportunity to appeal to schools to speed up the registration of candidates for the 2022 May/June examination, urging stakeholders to address the challenge of the slow pace of the ongoing registration.

“We are expecting about 1.6 million candidates but as of Friday, last week, only about 300,000 candidates have registered,” Mr Areghan said.

Digitised certificates

Speaking about what to come, Mr Areghan said WAEC will soon introduce what is called digitised certificates where candidates and end-users view and access candidates’ original certificates on their electronic gadgets, thus eliminating fake certificates and ensuring easy access.

“EDUSAT is also an innovation that will enable researchers and all stakeholders’ access to results’ statistical analysis in any nature and format, online,” Mr Areghan said.

The HNO also announced that WAEC will be celebrating its 70th anniversary in Abuja from March 14-18, 2022 during its annual Council meeting.

“All the member countries will be joining online while the Nigerian delegates will be attending physically,” he said.