The West African Examinations Council has assured candidates and other stakeholders that the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will be conducted in a hitch free environment.
WAEC’s Head of National Office (HNO) in Nigeria, Mr. Patrick E. Areghan, gave the assurance at an interactive session with the media, held at its headquarters in Yaba, Lagos.
“Gentlemen of the media, we cannot feign ignorance of the level of insecurity in the country. Conducting examinations under such a dreadful situation has been a daunting task. There are many flash points all over the country, and conducting examinations in such areas would require extra security arrangement.
“Consequently, we are liaising with the Inspector General of Police, Brigade Commanders, other security agencies and the various State governments to provide security in order to ensure that the examination is conducted under a secure and safe environment. We have also sought the intervention of the Honourable Minister of Education in this respect.
“Similarly, our Zonal and Branch Offices have reached out to various security outfits in their respective locations for assistance. Courtesy visits and other forms of appeals have been made and we have been assured of full cooperation of the security agencies to this effect.
“If and when the need arises, schools in insecurity-prone areas would be relocated to safe havens, with the full approval, co-operation and participation by the Federal or State Government concerned,” the HNO further assured.
The examination which has been scheduled to hold simultaneously in all member countries, except Ghana, will last for seven weeks, beginning on May 8 and ending on June 23, 2023, according to the examination body.
Areghan disclosed that a total of 1,621,853 candidates from 20,851 secondary schools registered for the examination.
The WAEC helmsman further stated that candidates would be examined in 76 subjects, while about 30,000 practicing senior secondary school teachers, nominated by the various State Ministries of Education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors.
According to Areghan: “A total of 1,621,853 candidates from 20,851 secondary schools have registered for the examination. Out of this number, 798,810 are males, amounting to 49.25%, while 823,043 are females, which is 50.75% of the total candidature.
“The statistics show that there is a further increase and decrease in the number of females and males respectively, compared to the 2022 diet. On the whole, the candidature for the 2023 WASSCE (SC) increased by 13, 868 over the figure of 2022 1,607,985.”
He warned that schools which failed to upload the Continuous Assessment score within the stipulated time after several free upload periods, would likely be slammed with penalties.
“CASS score is a major component in the computation of grades for candidates in the WASSCE (SC) examination. The use of technology has made it possible for the Council to provide platforms to enable schools to upload, manage and access students’ CASS data seamlessly and make such data available to schools on request.
“Currently, the Council allows upload of CASS data in SS1, SS2 and SS3, designated as CASS Year 1, CASS Year II, and CASS Year III at different upload periods. For each period of upload, the Council opens its portal free of charge for all schools and also extends the period of upload from time to time to enable all schools to upload. Schools that fail to upload within the expected time frame after several free upload periods face possible penalties.
“No school will have any result without complete CASS upload, Areghan hinted.
He implored parents and examination supervisors to avoid all actions that could be adjudged as examination malpractice.