Gentlemen of the media, on behalf of the Registrar to Council, the Management and Staff of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, I am delighted to welcome you to this press briefing. This is to acquaint you with our preparations and readiness for the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2022 in Nigeria.
As you are aware, the virulent COVID-19 pandemic that hit the globe in 2020 created tension, uncertainty, disruption of socio-economic and academic activities . The Council was also not excluded, as the effects of the pandemic almost hindered the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), for School Candidates, 2020 and 2021. As you all know, the scheduled dates for the conduct of the examinations had to be shifted to later dates because of the prevailing effects of the pandemic.
Examination Period
Gentlemen of the Media, I am delighted to inform you that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2022 will take place between the 16th of May and 23rd of June, 2022 in Nigeria, spanning a period of six (06) weeks. The revert to May/June period for the conduct of the examination should be celebrated. The significance of this is that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the various member States, save Ghana, have now again found a common ground in respect of their academic calendars. This shows a massive recovery from the devastating effects, disruptions and confusion caused by the Pandemic. We must give kudos to the Honourable Minister of Education and his Ministry for this wonderful feat.
Entries
A total of One Million, Six Hundred and Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty Five (1,607,985) candidates from Twenty Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty One, (20,221) schools have registered for the examination. Out of this number, Eight Hundred Thousand and Fifty-Five (800,055) are males, comprising (49.76%) while Eight Hundred Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty Four (800,724) are females, comprising (50.24%) of the total candidature. Candidates would be examined in 76 subjects, made up of 197 papers. About 30,000 practicing senior teachers, nominated by various Ministries of Education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors.
NIN As A Registration Component
Even though NIN was made a component of the registration process, it was not a compulsory requirement in order not to disqualify many candidates. Even after the registration exercise, candidates were, and are still being, allowed to submit their NIN for upload. I, therefore, want to make it categorically clear that no candidate was denied registration as a result of non-submission of NIN.
COVID-19 Protocols
Let me assure you and the general public that though COVID-19 is abating, during the conduct of the examination, the protocols rolled out by the Federal and State governments of Nigeria will still be strictly adhered to. All examination functionaries, including Council’s staff on distribution; Supervisors; Inspectors, Candidates and School officials have been briefed and advised to follow all COVID-19 protocols.
Insecurity In The Land
Gentlemen of the media, we are all aware of the level of insecurity in our dear country. Conducting examinations under a hostile atmosphere is an Herculean task. There are many flash points all over the country and conducting examinations in such areas would require extra security arrangement. Accordingly, we are liaising with the Inspector General of Police and the various State governments to provide security in order to ensure that the examination is conducted under a secure and safe environment.
You would recall that the conduct of some papers in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2021 was disrupted in some parts of the South East due to insecurity. It took the extraordinary magnanimity of WAEC to administer another examination, pro bono, to the affected students. These are children who, ordinarily, would have had their academic future jeopardized through no fault of theirs. All hands must be on deck to prevent this scenario.
Examination Malpractice
Gentlemen of the media, let me remind you that the Council seriously frowns at examination malpractice of any kind. The penalties for involvement in any form of examination malpractice will be meted out to erring candidates, supervisors, schools, etc, as would be approved by the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), which is the highest decision-making organ of the Council that sits on examination matters in Nigeria. It is therefore, on this note that I call on parents and guardians to admonish their wards to study hard and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractice. The mass media must play its watch-dog role. The various Ministries of Education should call their principals, teachers and other officials serving as inspectors, to order. Every candidate and examination functionary must play by the rules which are well stipulated in the WAEC Syllabus and Guidelines for the conduct of examinations issued to schools. Erring schools will be derecognized; erring officials would be adequately punished while erring candidates would lose their results, no matter whose ox is gored.
I want to specifically warn supervisors to desist from aiding and abetting examination malpractice by assisting candidates, one way or the other, especially by allowing them to enter the Examination Hall with their cell phones and make use of same. This is shameful and indecorous. We shall fish them out and deal with them. All hands must be on deck to sanitize the education sector.
Miracle Centres
Gentlemen of the media, we are not oblivious of the existence of the so-called ‘Miracle Centres’, even though this is not our coinage. As a matter of fact, they exist only in the imagination of their operators and patronizers. They are centres where parents pay huge sums of money to procure assistance for their children or wards. WAEC is certainly not a party to this arrangement. We are closely watching all suspected schools. However, remotely located they may be, we will fish them out and deal with them by deploying our in-build anti-malpractice mechanism. It is left for candidates and school to choose between something or nothing: risk not having your result and wasting the entire six years you spent in school, as per candidates, or as a school, risk being derocognised. To be forewarned is to be forearmed!
Rogue Website Operators
We also want to sound a note of warning to all operators of rouge-websites that WAEC will not condone their heinous acts during the conduct of this examination. Parents are hereby warned to desist from patronizing these evil-doers who are hell bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC. They should not patronize them as that would only lead to the destruction of their children’s destiny. Meanwhile, we shall, as usual work hand-in-hand with the Nigeria Police to bring perpetrators to book. There will be no hiding place for them. Perpetrators will surely face the full wrath of the law.
E-Learning Portal
WAEC has made available its e-learning portal as a way of helping candidates with learning
materials that will equip them with the necessary requirements and expectations needed to write and pass their examinations. Candidates should visit https://WAEConline.org.ng to access the portal.
Release of Results
The results of candidates sitting the examination will be released 45 days after the conduct of the last paper, while the certificates will be printed and issued to schools in less than Ninety (90) days after the release of results. WAEC Nigeria, in its bid to serve the Nigerian Child better, has acquired a state-of-the-art printer that delivers outstandingly high quality and high volume output.
The Road To May 16, 2022
It has been very difficult navigating the way to May 16, 2022 (commencement date of the examination). Non-adherence to registration deadline was a major problem. You will be surprised to hear that even though entries were floated on 6th December, 2021, and were billed to end on April 3, 2022, we could not actually close entries until late April, due to pressures from different stakeholders. This impacted negatively on the preparation of pre-examination, examination and post examination materials. Even as I speak, some private schools are still disturbing us with requests for entries. This is laughable and it is not good enough. It is nothing but an attempt to commit fraud by the schools involved. This is certainly not good for the operations of the Council and the entire system. Registration of candidates is not an open-ended thing.
GENERAL
The West African Examinations Council, being a foremost examining body, adding value to the educational goals of its stakeholders, has not rested on it oars, since the past seventy years of existence. The Council has continued to improve on its service delivery across board, by leveraging heavily on Information Communication Technology (ICT) in a fast growing and fast-paced digital world. Great strides have been made in the following areas:
- Digital Certificate
The Council is working assiduously to perfect and deploy the Digital Certificate software which was earlier announced as one of the innovations the Council is exploring in its bid to make service delivery more accessible to candidates.
The risk of losing certificates to robbers at home and on the road, termites, flood and fire, is high. Misplacement is also a very high possibility. Once the project is completed, certificates can now be accessed on electronic gadgets. End-users would simply need to log unto a given platform and retrieve candidates’ certificates for verification purposes. So digitalization would help secure certificates and ease authorized access. This is the height of technological revolution in the certification process.
- Robust Computer Based Test Services
Let me also seize this opportunity to inform all our stakeholders and the general public that WAEC offers a very reliable and robust Computer Based Tests and Aptitude Test Services, both at the WAEC Testing and Training Centre, Ogba – an edifice that boasts of state-of-the art facilities, and the Aptitude Tests Department, Yaba.
Only recently, the Council conducted a nationwide Computer Based Test (CBT) for recruitment into the Nigerian Police and got glowing tributes for the excellent delivery.
- EDUSTAT
This enables interested stakeholders to access WAEC statistics online. It is very useful for researchers, organizations and governments at all levels. It solves the problem of falsification and all that. It will be launched shortly.
- WAEC ChatBot
Furthermore, the general public can now gain access to all WAEC services online and real-time through the WAEC Request Management Portal (WAEC CHATBOT) by logging online to www.request.waec.org, or, chat with us on WhatsApp with the following numbers:
– 08179439269
– 07061741253
- WAEC Verify
This provides on-line access to tertiary institutions and other establishments, to WAEC data base for the verification of prospective students’/applicants’ results.
CONCLUSION
Gentlemen of the media, we are set for the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022 in Nigeria. We are working hand-in-hand with the Federal Ministry of Education, the various State Ministries of Education, the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies and other stakeholders, to deliver, as usual, a credible examination to the Nigerian Child and the general public.
The Final International Timetable for the conduct of the examination has been sent to all schools for their proper and necessary guidance.
We remain ever grateful to the Honourable Minister of Education, the Honourable Minister of State, Education, all the State Ministries of Education, the Inspector-General of Police, and indeed, all stakeholders, for their usual support and cooperation, even as we count on them once again.
Finally, Gentlemen of the media, we cherish your partnership and we charge you to partner with us to ensure a successful conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022.
I thank you for honouring our invitation, even at a very short notice.
All thanks and glory belong to God.
God bless us all.