The West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, made good its promise to release the results of the first diet of the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates, in record time of less than 30 days after the examination.
The Council’s Head of National Office in Nigeria, Mr. Olu Adenikpekun who assured Nigerians at a press conference in Lagos that, the examination body was determined to work round the clock to guarantee a continued improvement in her service delivery capacity in the public interest, stated that the council was satisfied with the not so impressive performance of the candidates, because the additional diet is essentially to address the do-or-die attitude of some candidates and thereby reduce their tendency for involvement in examination malpractice.
Said he, “ it is hoped that the additional diet of the WASSCE for Private Candidates will reduce pressures on the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates; address the do-or-die attitude of some candidates and thereby reduce their tendency for involvement in examination malpractice.
“ The additional diet of the WASSCE for Private Candidates is part of WAEC’s contributions to the efforts of the Governments at all levels to bring about expansion in educational opportunities in the West African sub-region. “
Some stakeholders whom Education Townhall sought their views regarding the poor performance of candidates, said that the result is a reflection of the very tight measures recently put in place by WAEC to prevent examination malpractices, which made it difficult for exam cheats to have an easy ride.
A breakdown of the results show that 3,263 (Three Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Three) candidates, representing 28.86% obtained credits and above in five subjects; while 4,762 (Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Two) candidates, representing 42.12% obtained credits and above in four subjects.
More candidates scored below the desirable 5 credits level, as the 6,375 (Six Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy Five) candidates, representing 56.38% obtained credits and above in three subjects; where 8,113 (Eight Thousand One Hundred and Thirteen) candidates, representing 71.75% obtained credits and above in two subjects.
Further analysis reveals that the more desirable performance of minimum of credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics was achieved by an insignificant 1,937 (One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty Seven) candidates, representing just 17.13% of the total number of candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for Private Candidates in 2017 was 26.01%.
The results of 1,021 (One Thousand and Twenty One) candidates, representing 9.03% of the total candidature for 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 in due course for consideration, according to the WAEC boss.
A total of 11,721 (Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty One) candidates registered for the examination, out of which 11,307 (Eleven Thousand Three Hundred and Seven) candidates sat the examination. Of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, 6,370 (Six Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy) were male and 4,937 (Four Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty Seven) were female, representing 56.34% and 43.66% respectively.
Candidates who sat the examination are now free, according to Adenikpekun to, check the details of their performance on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org. The result checker PIN and serial number needed by the candidates to check their results online, he added: are contained on the candidate’s Photo Card obtained by each candidate during the registration.
He expressed profound gratitude to Supervisors, Invigilators, Custodians and other Ad-hoc personnel, for their sacrifices and contributions toward the successful conduct of the examination. He also thanked the Federal and State Ministries of Education, the Nigerian Police and other Security Agencies for their support and cooperation during the conduct of the examination.