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Tag: WAEC

  • 2022 WASSCE: WAEC warns against non adherence to registration deadline

    2022 WASSCE: WAEC warns against non adherence to registration deadline

    The West African Examinations Council has urged schools intending to enroll candidates for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to adhere to the new Feb. 12 deadline to do so.
    The council’s Head, National Office (HNO), Mr Patrick Areghan, said early registration would give the council adequate time to prepare the pre and post examination materials.
    He gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
    According to him, the delay in meeting registration deadline by schools is one of the major challenges facing the operations of the council, aside examination malpractice.
    He warned that a situation whereby some school owners would deliberately delay in registering their candidates for the examination would no longer be tolerated in the current year and going forward.
    “As usual, we are working assiduously toward the conduct of a hitch-free examination for the school candidates diet and indeed all three diets of our examination this year.
    “But I must state that before now, we have been faced with issues of late registration of candidates, especially on the side of the private schools, and this is hindering the operations of council in conducting the examination.
    “We floated entry in December 2021 for the registration of candidates for the 2022 WASSCE for schools and as I speak to you now, only a few schools have complied. They are coming in trickles.
    “Non adherence to registration deadline for candidates by schools has remained, indeed, a huge challenge to us, and so we are strongly appealing for these schools to comply because we need time to print the pre and and post examination materials.”
    The HNO stated that early registration gave the council an idea of the number of candidates to plan for, in terms of printing the question and answer scripts, including briefs, as well as ensuring proper capture of data.
    “If we do not have the exact number of candidates that will write the examination long before we start preparation, it becomes an uphill task for the council to manage. That not even withstanding, we go ahead to give window to these latecomers or stragglers, as well as what we call super late entry, ” the council boss stated.
    He attributed the non adherence to deadline to what he described as “shopping for candidates” from various sources, to make up for the number to be registered.
    The HNO said that schools were not allowed to enroll external candidates as school candidates for the examination, noting that this is against the National Policy on Education.
    The council boss explained that the super late entries were often tolerated by the council in a bid to accommodate every child desirous of the certificate, but it normally came with a cost.
    Areghan fingered private school owners as being the main culprits, warning that there would be no room for such practice anymore.
    He said that the council had put modalities in place to check the unwholesome act.
    “You see, technology is very costly and we do not do it all alone. It is usually in collaboration with other key stakeholders.
    “So, when they fail to meet with the deadline, they are surcharged. Sometimes, these people will be running to us to register candidates, even while the examination has started,” he said.
    Areghan said that already, arrangements were almost concluded to carry out sensitisation workshops for schools.
    According to the council boss, the workshop will involve all the principals of registered schools, as well as other key stakeholders, in further discussing the need to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the examination.
    He said that this would be followed by another elaborate workshop for examination supervisors only.
    “We are expecting that all registered schools in the country will participate in this, as we are envisaging not less than 1.5 million candidates for this year’s school examination.
    “We are going to organise this workshop for all these schools and their principals, before we turn to the supervisors.
    ” We are going to also have an elaborate session with these supervisors, to again, bring to their knowledge, the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of this examination, as spelt out in our syllabus.
    “The fact remains that even though some of the operators of these schools know the rules, how many of them are willing to comply?”
    The WAEC boss further warned owners of schools against complicity in examination malpractice, as the council would not hesitate in blacklisting anyone caught for as long as necessary.
    He regretted the fact that some supervisors had been found wanting over cases of examination malpractice, noting that more stringent measures awaited those that would be caught in the act.
    ” Some of them have been caught over their involvement in assisting candidates to compromise the standard of the examination and they are now in court.
    “It is unfortunate how some of these supervisors will choose to look the other way, when conducting the examination. Some even volunteer to use their handsets to snap questions and send outside to their accomplices, all in the name of assisting candidates.
    “Of course, they are usually caught. We must catch them, as we have our cutting edge technology deployed to catch all those perpetrators of evil,” he noted.
    On the issue of challenges faced by the council in conducting the examination in the face of the current insecurity in the country, Areghan lauded some state governments for providing the enabling environment.
    According to him, conducting the examination in the current state of insecurity occasioned by banditry, kidnapping and others, has cost the council a fortune.
    He noted that council had been working closely with some state governments, especially in some high risk areas, to ensure the safety of candidates, examination materials, council members, as well as all others involved in the conduct of the examination.
    “I want to sincerely thank these state governors for providing us with the much needed security to ensure safety of all that is involved in the exercise. In some very dangerous areas, we even go ahead to move candidates to more secured places for the examination to hold.
    “This whole issue of insecurity is also biting hard on the lean resources of council. We now need to double efforts to secure men and materials for the examination.
    ” We now have to pay double, in moving our men and these materials, to the nooks and crannies where the examination is to be administered.
    “We are even owing our service providers because the examination is not just handled or organised by council alone,” Areghan said.
    The council boss also pleaded with state governments owing the council to pay up and come for the results of their candidates.
  • BREAKING: WAEC releases 2021 WASSCE results

    BREAKING: WAEC releases 2021 WASSCE results

    The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has released the result of the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)

    Mr Patrick Areghan, Head of the Nigeria National Office of the Council who disclosed this on Monday, said a total of 80.56 per cent have been fully processed, and 19.44 per cent still being processed due to some issues being resolved.

    Areghan said One Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Nine (1,573,849) candidates registered for the examination and 1,560,261 candidates sat the examination.

    “The examination, which was an international one, took place simultaneously throughout the five-member countries of the Council – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, using the same International Timetable.

    “The examination spanned seven weeks, between August 16 and October 8, 2021. Throughout the period, we were faced with serious security challenges in the South East (IPOB and ESN sit-at-home order) and banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, etc, in the north and other parts of the country. All these, coupled with the continuous effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic, made the whole exercise a Herculean one.”

  • Suspected aggrieved WAEC candidates raze Benue school

    Suspected aggrieved WAEC candidates raze Benue school

    Government Secondly School Tse- Agberagba in Benue State has been razed by suspected aggrieved West African Examination Council ( WAEC) candidates.

    The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday.

    Tse Agberagba is the headquarters of Konshisha local Government area in Benue north east senatorial zone.

    According to reports, some aggrieved students whose WAEC registrations were cancelled by the school authorities for irregularities had vowed to set the school ablaze.

    But it could not be determined if they eventually carried out the threat or another group was responsible for the inferno.

    Records of candidates dating to as far back as 1990s were said to have been destroyed with other valuables during the incident.

    The Ministry of Education or Teaching Service Board was yet to react to the incident as at the time of filing this report.

  • WAEC reopens Calabar office after #Endsars destruction

    WAEC reopens Calabar office after #Endsars destruction

    The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has reopened its office in Calabar after it was destroyed by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSars protest on Oct. 24, 2020.

    Hoodlums destroyed the office buildings, vandalised cars, furniture, and certificates among others.

    Speaking on Monday in Calabar, the Head of National Office of WAEC, Mr Patrick Areghan, said that the examination body received the news of the destruction in Lagos with sadness.

    According to Areghan, the destruction on the examination body is condemnable, coming at a period when the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the world economy and also disrupting the academic calendar.

    He maintained that the complete renovation, rehabilitation and equipping of the Calabar office was to give it a facelift with a view to continue to render service to the people of the state.

    He said that the concern of WAEC was the safety of its staff during the destruction, adding that the examination body places premium on the welfare and safety of its staff.

    “The hoodlums attacked the premises of WAEC on Oct. 24, 2020. They destroyed the building and furniture, vandalised vehicles and carted away valuables.

    “After the destruction, some government officials from the state government and other stakeholders visited the place and made some promises, but, we are yet to see the fulfilment of those promises made.

    “As a body of examination, we exist to serve the Nigerian child and satisfy the interests of other stakeholders.

    “The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the academic calendar; hence the 2021 May/June WAEC did not hold as usual. The 2021 WAEC examination has been scheduled to start on Aug. 16 in Nigeria,” he said.

    He thanked members of the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPPS) and other stakeholders for their support for the examination body in the state.

    He urged staff of the council to ensure that COVID-19 protocols are strictly adhered to during the conduct of the examination.

    Branch Controller of WAEC in Cross River, Mr Oladele Ezekiel, said that after the destruction on Oct. 24, Gov. Ben Ayade visited the office on Nov. 3.

    He said that the governor, while assuring the council of his support to get back to business, promised the office two Hilux pick-up vehicles and the renovation of the damaged buildings.

    “The office followed up the promises rigorously but all to no avail.

    “With great difficulty, the office relocated its operations to the Uyo zonal office for the safe custody of all security materials and the provision of our services to meet the needs of the Cross River residents and other clients.

    “The journey to and from Uyo was not a pleasant one as it was stressful and risky while the road was in serious state of despair with attendant effects on our operations.

    “The management heard our groaning and sent us a coaster bus to alleviate our transportation problems.

    “Furthermore, the management came and saw our pitiable state and the head of national office gave us hope that the office would be renovated before the next examination in 2021, here we are today,” he said.

    He thanked the head of the national office and his management team for their profound interest and genuine concerns for the entire staff and the office at large.

    In his goodwill message, the Secretary of ANCOPPS in Cross River, Mr Dermot Tawo, condemned the destruction on WAEC office.

    Tawo gave the assurance that they would continue to partner with the council to promote service delivery in the state.

  • WASSCE: No more late registration – WAEC warns

    WASSCE: No more late registration – WAEC warns

    West Examinations Council (WAEC) says late registration of candidates by schools, for its West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), would no longer be allowed, beginning from 2022.

    The Head of National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Mr Patrick Areghan, made this known in an interview on Friday in Lagos.

    Areghan spoke against the backdrop of late registration of candidates by some schools in an alleged bid to shop for external candidates.

    The HNO warned that there would be no going back on deadlines set by the council for registration of school candidates, henceforth.

    According to him, there is need for school owners to respect deadlines for upload of their candidates’ details for the examination.

    He said that late registration was a major challenges to the council.

    ”Late registration makes preparations very cumbersome. On the contrary, we do not experience same during examination for private candidates.

    ”This year, we opened our portal for registration of candidates on Feb. 5, to close on May 16; that is a three-month interval.

    ”We later extended it to May 31, but due to activities of defaulters, we kept shifting the goalpost until the end of June. This is July and as at 15th, these stragglers were still calling for more extension.

    ”These are people who will not do the needful within the given period; this will no longer be tolerated, no matter the explanation advanced,” he warned.

    The WAEC boss noted that there was a Federal Government policy on education which stated that no school should enroll external candidates for WASSCE for schools.

    ”If a student should fail the examination while in school, depending on the policy of the state, if given the opportunity to repeat, he or she could repeat; if not, such a person should go and attempt the examination again as a private candidate.

    ”Government has stated it clearly that we should not enroll external candidates to sit for school examination.

    According to Areghan, in order to make the system more effective, schools must insist on carrying out continuous assessments progressively for students from SS1 to SS3.

    The HNO explained that there was a collaboration that emphasised capturing and upload of students details from SS1, in a bid to avoid registration of external candidates.

    According to him, this has been the case in some schools.

    He said, however, that there had been sabotage especially by private-owned schools.

    ”They do not want to comply. Should they comply with the process and directive, the issue of registering external candidates will never arise.

    ”I recall in 2018, they frustrated our efforts, but it did not work, same in 2019.

    ”This year, we have taken the issue to our board and it has given us the necessary backing; those who could not register within the given time frame were shut out and have been all over the place complaining,” he told NAN.

    The HNO said that the alleged saboteurs would come up with excuses ranging from mistake in subject registration to misspelling of names.

    “Right now, whatever you submit as your continuous assessment score record, name of candidates and other details, is what we transfer to our registration portal.

    ”No change is effected but unfortunately, upon doing all these, some schools still go ahead to enroll fictitious named so that when they go shopping for external candidates, they come back to demand for a change of information on candidates’ profiles,” he said.

    He said that because the council would want to give every qualified Nigerian child a chance to sit for the examination, it had to work day and night.

    ”Our message now is that it will no longer be business as usual. We have started to checkmate all these unwholesome activities and we are putting down our feet.

    ”On our part, we will ensure we carry out adequate sensitisation on the issue through our media partners and even on social media.

    “Once we close registration, that will be it,” the HNO said.

  • WAEC announces commencement date for 2021 WASSCE

    WAEC announces commencement date for 2021 WASSCE

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced the date to conduct the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.

    This year’s WASSCE, which was earlier scheduled for May/June, will now take place from August 16 to September 30, the Head of Public Affairs of WAEC Office in Nigeria, Demianus Ojijeogu, revealed in a statement on Friday.

    He added that the international timetable for the conduct of the examination would be released in due course.

    Ojijeogu explained that the new dates announced by the examination body was in line with the current academic calendar and was done in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

    He noted the controversy triggered by the address of the Head of National Office, Patrick Areghan, at a press briefing to announce the release of results of the 2021 first series of the WASSCE for private candidates on Tuesday.

    The examination body’s spokesman decried that the national office head was wrongly quoted to have said that WACE had postponed the 2021 WASSCE.

    Areghan, at the briefing, had said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were still very much felt in the education sector, and the academic calendar had been distorted.

    According to him, these factors have made it not to be possible to have the examination in May/June as earlier scheduled.

    Reacting to the controversy trailing the remarks of the national office head, Ojijeogu stated that Areghan was quoted out of context.

    Announcing the results of the WASSCE for private candidates, WAEC said a total of 7,690 candidates entered for the examination, representing a 38 per cent decline when compared with the 2020 figure.

    Of the figure, 2,195 candidates, representing 30.11 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

    “The number of candidates that had five credits, including English Language and Mathematics may not necessarily be a basis for judging the level of performance in the examination,” Areghan had said.

    He explained that this was because the examination was more or less a remedial one, and some candidates may just need only one or two papers, other than English Language and /or Mathematics to remedy their admission deficiencies.

  • WAEC releases 2021 WASSCE results

    WAEC releases 2021 WASSCE results

    West African Examinations Council has released the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for private candidates, 2021 – First Series.

    Head of Nigerian National office, WAEC, Mr Patrick Areghan in a chat with newsmen said the examination was primarily designed to help candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions to reduce the waiting time for results and beat admission deadlines.

     

    He said, “It will interest you to know that the examination is also an international one. This is the 4th edition in Nigeria, with the maiden edition taking place in 2018. The examination is primarily designed to help candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions reduce the waiting time for results and beat admission deadlines.

    “The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates shows that out of the Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty-Nine (7,289) candidates that sat the examination:

    “Two Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Eight (2,938) candidates representing 40.31 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics; out of which One Thousand Three Hundred and Ninety-Six (1,396) were male and One Thousand five Hundred and Forty-Two (1,542) were female candidates, representing 47.52%and 52.48 % respectively;

    “Two Thousand One Hundred and Ninety-Five (2,195) candidates representing 30.11 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

    “Of this number, One Thousand and Seventy-Four (1,074) i.e. 48.93 per cent were male candidates, while One Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-One (1,121) i.e. 51.07 per cent were female candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2019 and 2020, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, were 26.08 per cent and 32.23 per cent respectively. Thus, there is a marginal decrease of 2.12 per cent in performance in this regards.”

  • Why I wrote WAEC, JAMB four times-Alex, BBNaija star

    Why I wrote WAEC, JAMB four times-Alex, BBNaija star

    Reality Tv star, Alex Asogwa has opened on why she wrote the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and also the Joint Admissions and matriculation board(JAMB) exams four times

    Alex made this known during a chat with Glazia Magazine.

    Recounting her experiences, Alex said: “When I was younger in secondary school, I was in science class and at some point, I needed to change school because my parents were worried I wasn’t very serious at school and still came tops in class so they changed my school and I had to drop one class because of that change,” she said.

    “I was supposed to go to SS2 but I was put back in SS1 and that really affected me psychologically. I am not sure if my parents understand how much of an effect that had on me. I stopped loving anything that had to be with the sciences and I just loved to be free. That was when I realized how much freedom meant to me.

    “If I was just going to make my own decisions, I won’t be changing school. So, I started to love the arts. All my friends were in art class and I started going for their classes. When I left secondary school and went to university, because I had done science in secondary school I couldn’t pursue my love for art in the university, it was a lot.”

    Speaking further, the filmmaker noted that she did her fourth WASSCE as a 300L undergraduate to retrace her steps in terms of the required subject combinations of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) towards the arts before she got into BBNaija.

    “It was stressing me and I had to write WAEC and Jamb four times. I think I wrote the fourth WAEC shortly before the reality show. In school, I actually helped people from the art class with their assignments. Then in university, people studying theatre arts and mass comms would come to meet me to help them with assignments,” she added.

    “These were people in 400 level while I was in 100 level studying Agriculture. I was basically studying something I had no interest in, and helping people do their own assignments. So, when I wrote my fourth WAEC exam, I was hoping to pass and move. I didn’t mind starting from the beginning because I was already in 300 level Agriculture.

    “I had just two more years to graduate but I didn’t mind starting afresh for theatre arts as that was what I wanted. I wanted to write stories and see those stories come to life. I was also working with a friend of mine, I was the dance coordinator in my theatre group and I was helping the drama coordinator to create stories and all that.

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    “I just felt like it was my calling. When I went for the reality show (Big Brother Naija) and I came back, I was like what is the need waiting? Why not pursue what I need because I’m not going back to study agriculture that I was planning to change from before I left. So, that’s why I had to go study filmmaking.”

     

  • WAEC cancels Literature Paper for private candidates

    WAEC cancels Literature Paper for private candidates

    The 2021 Literature-in-English paper of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) taken by private candidates has been cancelled.

    This was disclosed by the Nigeria Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) via Twitter.

    No reason was given for the cancellation of the examination which was earlier taken on Friday, February 26.

    The examination body however rescheduled the examination for March 11.

    WAEC had earlier slated the first series of exams on February 15 through March 2.

    Meanwhile, the examination council has released the payment procedure for WASSCE 2021 for school candidates.

    It directed schools to visit its offices in their respective states to complete a remittance form and get approval from the Ministry of Education for the number of candidates to be registered for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    While directing them to obtain the endorsement of WAEC Branch Controllers in their states, the council told schools to make payment of N13, 950 to any of Access Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, Union Bank, Sterling Bank, among others.

  • 2020 WASCE: WAEC withholds 5,548 results over exam malpractices

    2020 WASCE: WAEC withholds 5,548 results over exam malpractices

    Results of 5,548 candidates who participated at the 2020 Second Series of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates have been withheld over various cases of malpractice.

    Mr Patrick Areghan, Head of National Office (HNO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), organisers of the examination, disclosed this while announcing the release of the examination result on Monday in Lagos.

    The WAEC boss also noted that of the 61, 509 candidates that sat for the examination, a total of 61,111 representing 99.35 per cent had their results fully processed and released.

    He said that results of 398 others, representing 0.65 per cent, have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to the candidates.

    According to him, the cases are being investigated and that report of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council, for determination in due course.

    He noted that the committee’s decision would be communicated directly to the affected candidates thereafter.

    Giving a further breakdown of the results, Areghan stated that the 61,509 candidates sat for the examination at 540 centres spread across the country.

    According to him, the figure is a decline, when compared with the 66,375 entry figure for 2019 for the same examination.

    He added that the drop in the entry figure for the year under review could be attributed to the negative impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    According to him, efforts are however being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently.

    ”The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates shows that out of the 61,509 candidates that sat for the examination, 31,751 of them obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and or Mathematics.

    ”A total of 24,491 other candidates obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.

    ”Of this number, 12,040, representing 49.16 per cent, are male candidates while 12,451 others representing 50.84 per cent are female
    candidates.

    ”The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for private candidates, 2018 and 2019, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics, were 35.99 and 35.10 per cent respectively.

    ”Thus, there is a marginal increase of 4.72 per cent in performance in this regard,” he said.

    According to Areghan, the number of candidates that have five credits including English Language and Mathematics may not be necessarily be a basis for judging the level of performance in the examination.

    ”This is because the examination is more or less a remedial one. Some candidates may just need only one or two papers, other than English Language and or Mathematics, to remedy their admission deficiencies,” he said.

    Speaking further, the HNO added that a total of 101 candidates with varying degrees of Special Needs were registered for the examination.

    He said that 39 were visually challenged, 15 have impaired hearing, 10 albinos, one spastic cum mentally challenged and 36 physically challenged.

    Areghan stated that these candidates were adequately catered for in the administration, adding that the results of these candidates had also been processed and released, along with those of other candidates.

    The WAEC boss further reminded candidates that collection of certificates for the WASSCE for private candidates would be based on request online, via the Electronic Certificate Management System platform.

    He urged candidates who participated at the examination to feel free to check details of their performance on the council’s website.