Funmi Ogundare
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) yesterday announced the release of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for 2022.
The Head of Nigeria National Office, Mr. Patrick Areghan, who briefed journalists in Lagos, said of the total number of 1,601,047 candidates that sat the examination, 1,222, 505 candidates, representing 76.37 per cent got credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Of this number, 597,811 (37.34 per cent) were male candidates, while 624,694 (39.02 per cent) were female candidates.
The percentage of candidates in this category in the 2021 WASSCE for those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics was 81.70 per cent.
“Thus 796,217 were males while 804,830 were females, representing 49.737 per cent and 50.27 per cent respectively,” he said.
Out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination in the country, he said 1,437,629 candidates representing 89.79 per cent have their results fully processed and released while 163,418 candidates representing 10.21 per cent have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some issues being resolved.
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 within the next one week.”
An analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 1,409,529 candidates representing 88.047 per cent got credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics), which showed an appreciable 5.34 per cent decrease in performance.
Areghan said the results of 365,564 candidates representing 22.83 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice, adding that it is 11.747 per cent higher than the 10.9 per cent recorded in the 2021 WASSCE for school candidates, adding: “Reasons for this are not far-fetched. Candidates are no longer ready to learn, and the preparations for examinations are poor. There is also over-reliance on the so-called ‘expo’, which is actually non-existent.
“Candidates simply got frustrated when they got into the examination hall and discovered that all they had celebrated was fake.”
Areghan noted that this has pitiably led to some of them failing the examination, which if they had relied on themselves and studied hard, would have passed like many others.The council, the HNO noted, would continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice, adding that schools, supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating such “evil are not helping the educational system.
“It is the child whose future is being destroyed. Parents must stop funding ‘expo’ for their children; it does not help. Those who indulge in posting items on designated platforms are nothing but destiny destroyers. Beneficiaries of such ‘help’ will never go unpunished as they will never have their results. All hands must be on deck to sanitise the system.”
