Council withholds results of 11 percent candidates due to exam fraud

By Gabriel Dike, Lagos

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) second series taken by 73, 424 candidates nationwide.

In a statement announcing the release of the private candidates 2022 second series, WAEC Head of National Office (HNO), Mr. Patrick Areghan, asked the 73, 424 candidates to check their results via www.waecdirect.org.

Areghan said 30,954 candidates, representing 42.16%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

According to him, 42,405 candidates representing 57.75%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and/or Mathematics.

He said: “The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for private candidates 2021, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of Five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 48.61%.”

He said the council observed a marginal decrease of 6.45% in the performance over that of 2021.

“This analysis, however, cannot be compared with that of the WASSCE for school candidates. Whereas the candidate in the WASSCE for school candidates examination is compelled to sit eight or nine subjects, the candidate in the WASSCE for private candidates examination, though can register for eight or nine subjects, is not compelled to take all. He/she is free to sit, even one subject, depending on the deficiency he/she wants to remedy.

“For him/her, therefore, the examination is only a remedial one – a remedy for an existing deficiency. From the above, it will not be true or fair to say that the performance in this examination has dwindled.”

Areghan stressed that the results of 7,871 candidates, representing 10.72% of the number of candidates that sat for the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.

The HNO said cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for determination in due course, nothing, “the committee’s decisions will be communicated directly to the affected candidates thereafter.”

The HNO said of the 73,424 candidates that sat for the examination, 36,141 were males while 37,283 were females, representing 49.22% and 50.78%, respectively.

Areghan explained that out of the 72,265 candidates, representing 98.42%, have their results fully processed and released.

“In contrast, 1,159 candidates, representing 1.58%, have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors on the part of the candidates. However, efforts are being made to complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their full results,” he revealed.

He advised candidates, who sat for the examination to visit www.waecdirect.org to check their results. Areghan said candidates would also be required to apply for hard copies of their certificates online through the WAEC Certificate Request Portal (e-Certman)
website: https://certrequest.waec.ng/ and can also access, share and download their digital certificates online by visiting www.waec.org once the hard copies are available.

Areghan disclosed that the examination was conducted in Nigeria between Monday, October 31st, 2022, and Thursday, December 15th, 2022.

He said the coordination of examiners and marking of candidates’ scripts were carried out at seven marking venues and one e-marking venue spread across the country, from Monday, January 16th, to Sunday, February 5th, 2023.

The HNO noted that 3,393 examiners participated in the coordination and marking exercise.