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Tag: West African Examinations Council (WAEC)

  • WAEC’s 2026 Plan: A Recipe for Disaster?

    WAEC’s 2026 Plan: A Recipe for Disaster?

    • By Olanrewaju Akinola

    The Federal Ministry of Education’s recent announcement of a revised national curriculum and the plan of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to examine it from the 2026 WASSCE has sparked widespread concerns among students, parents, and educators. The present SS 3 students who will take WAEC’s exam in the next six months will be disadvantaged as they have not been taught the subjects they are being compelled to take. Any external examination like WASSCE and BECE on the basis of the new curriculum should start in 2028 when the present SS 1 and JS 1 students would be in in SS 3 and JS 3 respectively since the new curriculum ought to have started with them.

    The changes to the curriculum include the introduction of new subjects such as Citizenship and Heritage Studies and Digital Technologies, as well as the streamlining of over 30 trade subjects to six practical areas. While the intention behind these changes may be applaudable, WAEC’s plan to examine it from 2026 is ill-thought-out, unfair, unjust, and should be jettisoned. A major concern is that the present SS 3 students who did not study Digital Technologies in SS 1 and SS 2 will be examined on it in 2026. Also, students who have been offering Tourism, Storekeeping and other previous trade subjects since SS 1 are now being forced to switch to one of the new six trade subjects. Moreover, students who have been offering certain subjects since SS 1 are now being told they can no longer take them in WASSCE. For example, science students cannot take Economics, while business students who have been offering Government since SS 1 are being forced to take Marketing instead, even though they were never taught it. In any case, where will schools get continuous assessment marks from SS 1 to SS 3 for the new subjects which they are expected to upload on the WAEC exam portal?

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    Furthermore, WAEC and Federal Ministry of Education should reconsider making CBT compulsory for WASSCE from 2026, given the lack of infrastructure, accessibility and logistics to support it. Students will be required to travel to CBT centre multiple times, which may be located far from their homes, to take their exams, including practicals. The implications of these changes are far-reaching, particularly for students in rural areas who may not have easy access to CBT Centres or reliable internet connection. Unlike JAMB, WAEC’s exams are not just objective or a one-time 2-hour test, making it to be more challenging.

    The best approach is for the government to first set a timeframe to equip schools with necessary facilities to enable CBT exams to be conducted within school premises, rather than shifting the burden to private entities and parents. This would eliminate the need for students to travel multiple times to CBT centre, ease financial burdens on the parents and reduce logistical challenges.

    In conclusion, the implementation of the new curriculum and WAEC’s plan to examine it from 2026 is a recipe for disaster. It is imperative that authorities reconsider their plans and prioritise the interests of students. Deferring the examination on the basis of the new curriculum to 2028 is a more sensible approach, allowing students to be adequately prepared and avoiding unnecessary disadvantage. Also, the decision to make CBT compulsory for WASSCE from 2026 should be revisited, considering the significant challenges it poses. The more practical approach is for the government to equip schools with necessary facilities to conduct CBT exams on-site. This will make the students to focus on their exams without undue stress and financial burden. The future of our children is at stake, and we must ensure they are not shortchanged.

    Olanrewaju Akinola, a concerned parent writes from Lagos.

  • WAEC: we won’t re-issue certificates

    Owners of West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificates have been advised to guard them well. The body said on Sunday it will not re-issue on account of misplacement, fire, flood or theft.

    The council’s Head of National Office, Mr. Olu Adenipekun, said the advice became necessary as lots of people have been approaching the council at various times for a re-issue of the lost certificates.

    He said: “Let me make it clear that in the real sense of it, our certificates are issued only once, irrespective of who is involved or the circumstance that led to the misplacement, and that remains the truth of the matter.

    “We do not issue our West African Senior School Certificates Examination (WASSCE) twice.

    “But, if we have such cases of theft, fire, flood and others, as it concerns these certificates, yes, in reaction to our operational environment, we can consider the issuance of an ‘attestation certificate.

    “About five years ago, the council, that is, the highest governing body met and took a decision on this, stressing that there is no test body that issues two of its certificates to a single candidate in one examination.

    “But, if a candidate should experience such losses through fire, flood or theft and can provide all the necessary proofs required to that effect, that will show such things actually happened to his or her certificate, there are certain steps such candidates are expected to take before approaching the council for further action.”

    The WAEC chief explained that after all such processes had been satisfactorily concluded then, the council would consider the issuance of “Attestation Certificate”.

    Read Also: School gardener beats WAEC candidate to death

    “It is this certificate that we give out, and not re-issuance of another certificate. This is what we have been doing for the past five years now.

    “We have many Nigerians who have benefitted from this, because it is like a replacement of the real certificate. These people who have benefitted from this come from all the stratum of the society,” Adenipekun said.

    According to him, in an effort to reduce the incidence of certificates loss and protection, the council in Nigeria, four years ago introduced what it called certificate cover.

    He explained that one of the ways candidates or perons get their certificates destroyed was majorly in an attempt to laminate them.

    “It has been discovered that quite a large number of people rush off to business centres immediately after collecting their WASSCE certificates, and in an attempt to get them laminated, they are destroyed in the process.”

    Adenipekun said that the council’s non-sticky certificate covers were unique and protective, even if when submerged in water.

    He added that these were parts of the innovations the council introduced over the years in an attempt to serve the public well.

  • WAEC, JAMB working on clashing timetables

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said it will work out the clash between its timetable for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates and that of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which begins tomorrow.

    WAEC Nigeria’s Head of Public Affairs Mr. Demianus G. Ojijeogu told The Nation at its headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, that the council was in touch with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and would work out the clash “internally and administratively.”

    He promised that candidates would not have to sacrifice one examination for the other.

    “I assure you that no candidate would miss their exams.  We are working on it. The JAMB registrar is in touch with the WAEC head of National Office, and we will sort it out internally,” he said.

    JAMB Public Relations Officer, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the board had received assurance from WAEC that there would be no clash.

    Read Also: WAEC gives 1,050 tools to 21 schools

    “The registrar has reached out to the HNO and he was assured that there would be no clash,” he said.

    According to the WASSCE timetable, WAEC scheduled two subjects, Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 2 (Essay) and Store Management 2 (Essay), for 9:30 am-11:30 am  – the same time some candidates would sit for  the UTME to hold in Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.

    Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 1 Objective and Store Management 1 (Objective) was scheduled for 11:30 am-12:10 pm. A parent, Mr. Suleiman Olagunju, from Akure, expressed concern that his daughter was to sit for Animal Husbandry same time as her UTME tomorrow.

    He said: “I called the JAMB office and was told they were aware and would do something about it.  But till now nothing has been done.  It was JAMB that rescheduled its examination because of the elections that caused this clash.  WAEC timetable for the examination is fixed.”

    The UTME is to last for one week.  WAEC has scheduled practical sessions for about 20 subjects between Monday, April 15 and Thursday, April 19, from 9:30 am to 4.45 pm each day.   They include Metalwork, Home Management, Food and Nutrition, Arabic 3 (Oral), French 3 (Oral), Physical Education, Clothing and Textiles, Foods and Nutrition, Home Management, Music, Applied Electricity, Basic Electricity, Health Science, Health Education and Fisheries.

    The 2019 WASSCE for school candidates began on Monday with three subjects, Catering Craft Practice, Marketing and Salesmanship.

  • Only 26% pass WASSCE first series

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Tuesday released results of its 2019 West African Senior School Certificate (SSCE) for Private Candidates – First Series with only 26.08 per cent making credits and above in five subjects including English and Mathematics.

    Head of National Office, Mr Olu Adenipekun, said at a press briefing held at the Council’s headquarters in Yaba, Lagos that the result was coming about 30 days after the conclusion of the examination on February 4, 2019.

    “A total of 3,102 candidates representing 26.08 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and General Mathematics. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for Private Candidates 2018 – First Series was 17.5 per cent,” he said.

    The examination, which was introduced as a second alternative for private candidates apart from the November/December WASSCE, was written by 11,892 candidates out of 12,202 that registered.

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    From among those, Adenipekun said 11,686 had their results fully processed while on 206 had their results withheld for errors which are still being processed.

    Only 376 candidates (3.16 per cent) had their results withheld because of examination malpractice.

    The HNO said the incidence of examination malpractice was low because the number of candidates was manageable compared to the school examination written by over one million candidates yearly.

    “It is very difficult to have a large number of candidates writing an examination and not have examination malpractice. But the size of the candidates for this diet of exam allows us to monitor closely the ad-hoc staff better than other diets.

    “For this diet, we had Council staff monitoring each centre in addition to the supervisors and others. So this worked to reduce examination malpractice,” he said.

    Regarding results withheld for errors, Adenipekun said the Council had made efforts to reduce errors in the process of registeration but still patiently sorts through scripts to identify candidates who made mistakes in their registration numbers or who submitted scripts without names.

    Giving further statistics about the examination, Adenipekun said 6,180 (52 per cent9 candidates who took the examination were male, while 5,712 were female.

    The HNO expressed hope that this particular diet of WASSCE for private candidates would soon gain popularity such that it would reduce the pressure for those outside secondary school to register for the school examination conducted in April/May.

     

     

  • WAEC worries over abandoned certificates

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it will deploy an Electronic Certificate Management System to facilitate issuance of certificates to candidates, to reduce the problem of abandoned certificates.

    The council’s Head, Public Affairs,Mr Damianus Ojijeogu disclosed this in an interview with our reporters on Thursday in Lagos.

    According to him, the online system will enable the council to print certificates of candidates only on request.

    “With this in place, it will assist the council in decongesting backlog of certificates lying fallow for several years with very few owners coming up to collect them.

    “With this in place, any candidate that wants his or her result will go online to make request and leave an address of where it would be delivered.

    “It does not matter where they wrote the examination.

    “The process has reached an advanced stage and hopefully, by 2019, the mechanism would be deployed,’’ Ojijeogu said.

    He said the deployment of the electronic device became necessary following the slow response by candidates in collecting their certificates several years after sitting for the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination.

    Ojijeogu said that WAEC have been appealing to candidates yet to collect their certificates, but that the response had been very low.

    “In 2014 alone, we placed several advertorials in some newspapers appealing with those concerned to come forward for their certificates as they are taking up too much space in our offices.

    “We did need not get any meaningful response.

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    “Certificates as far back as 1980s are still lying fallow in our office with their owners not making attempt to come collect them, moreover, the number will be staggering if we should put them together.

    “Currently, the practice has been that if certificates should stay in our custody for more than four years, the owners will be charged with a custody fees of N5,000 on collection excluding the N3,500 for the collection of such certificate.’’

    According to him, certificates of candidates who wrote the 2017 Nov/Dec WASSCE, Private, have since been printed and ready for collection in all the council’s offices across the country.

    “Some persons who have written the examination repeatedly and failed are not willing to collect their certificates unless they are compelled to do so.

    “They only come around to request for it probably as part of visa requirement, job interview or screening at work places in offices.

    “This is not supposed to be so. They wrote the examination and it is only proper that they come for their certificates,” Ojijeogu said.

  • BREAKING: WAEC confirms Adeleke sat for 1981 exams

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has confirmed that the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, Ademola Adeleke sat for its examination in 1981.

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    WAEC made the confirmation in its response to an order made on September 11 this year by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Bwari, Abuja, directiing the examination body to produce Adeleke’s result.

    In its affidavit sworn to by Henry Sunday Adewunmi Osindeinde a Deputy Registrar G Head of School Examination Department, WAEC said sat for the May/April 1981 at Ede Muslim High School, Yidi Road, Ede, with Centre Number: 19645 and Candidate Number 149.

     

    Details later…

  • WAEC to candidates: Beware of fraudsters

     The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cautioned candidates in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) against fraudsters, who are bent on jeopardizing the performance of the examination.

    Mr Demianus Ojijeogu, Head of Public Affairs, WAEC, gave the warning in a statement in Abuja.

    He said the attention of the council had been drawn to the recent activities of these fraudsters.

    Ojijeogu said the past questions were being posted through some social media platforms by the fraudsters claiming that “they are the papers to be written by candidates.”

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    The attention of WAEC has been drawn to the activities of fraudsters that are capable of jeopardizing the performance of gullible candidates in the ongoing WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2018-Second Series in Nigeria.

    “The council has observed with dismay that past questions are being posted via WhatsApp and criminal websites by fraudulent individuals, which they claim are that of yet to be written papers.

    “For instance, the question paper for Principles of Cost Accounting that was written in Sierra Leone and Gambia on Thursday (today) are being circulated by these criminally-minded elements.

    “ The paper is circulated for candidates in Nigeria as Financial Accounting, slated for tomorrow (Friday).

    “The success of our candidates is our major concern and the council wishes to advise all candidates not to fall prey to these fraudsters but rather concentrate on their studies.’

  • WASSCE: WAEC compiles list of erring supervisors for sanctions

    The West African Examinations Council ( WAEC ) is compiling names of supervisors who worked against the ongoing May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination ( WASSCE ), for sanctions by relevant authorities.

    The council’s Head of Public Affairs Unit, Mr Damianus Ojijeogum, made the disclosure in an interview with the newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos.
    According to him, investigations revealed that the supervisor’s photo-shopped previous examination papers and forwarded same to operators of rogue websites, who in turn, swindled gullible candidates.

    “Our investigations also revealed that some school heads, invigilators, supervisors and candidates who succeeded in smuggling mobile phones and other electronic devices into examination halls, snapped the questions after the examination had commenced, and forwarded same to their collaborators for solutions.

    “We have been compiling a list of all supervisors found wanting; at the end of the entire exercise, we shall forward their names to ANCORPS and the ministry of education for proper disciplinary measures.

    “Such persons are not staff of WAEC; we shall blacklist them for good,” Ojijeogu said.

    He said that `this cheating by any means’ could be described as examination leakage as being reported by some mass media.

    “Question papers for the ongoing WASSCE did not leak as has been erroneously portrayed by a section of the media.

    “Leakage can be said to have occurred when questions get into the hands of some individuals who are not supposed to have them before the scheduled time.

    “No such case has been established since the commencement of this examination.

    “Rather than term it as leakage, it is correct to describe it as malpractice which we are committed to tackling.

    “We want to assure the general public that the integrity of our examination is a top priority to the council, and we remain committed in ensuring that it remains so,” he said.

    Read Also: WASSCE papers didn’t leak, says WAEC

    Ojijeogu told the newsmen that WAEC was deploying resources to introduce new techniques to protect its examinations.

    “We are all aware that one of the greatest challenges facing the education sector is examination malpractice.

    “On our part, we shall continue to do all we can to ensure that this ugly trend is checked.

    “We want to commend security agencies, especially the police, for partnering with us in an effort to expose and check the cankerworm,” he said.

    Ojijeogu told the newsmen that such partnership led to arrest of some men in Lagos found to be operating the rogue websites to defraud unsuspecting candidates.

    He added that the collaboration assisted the council to apprehend a syndicate at various locations in 2017.

    Ojijeogu solicited more support from members of the public to rid the education sector of examination malpractice.

    “Council will always be ahead in deploying cutting edge technologies that will defy malpractice no matter how hard the perpetrators try.

    “We will not compromise standards because we have come a long way; our integrity is key,” he said.

    NAN

  • WAEC withholds 1,021 results from 1st diet of 2018 WASSCE

    The West African Examinations Council ( WAEC ) on Tuesday announced the release of its January/February series of the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination ( WASSCE ).

    Mr Olu Adenipekun, the council’s Head of National Office ( HNO ), who announced the release in Lagos, said results of 1,021 candidates were, however, withheld.

    The approval to introduce and conduct the additional diet in the country and other national offices of the five-member countries was given at the council’s 65th annual general meeting in March 2017.

    The introduction of the series for Private candidates, brings to the three, the number of examinations conducted by the council each year.

    According to Adenipekun, the WAEC results were withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice by the affected candidates.

    He said the cases were being investigated and that reports of the investigations would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council in due course, for consideration.

    “The committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates,’’ Adenipekun said.

    According to him, 11,721 candidates registered for the examination, while 11,307 actually sat for the test.

    Giving a breakdown of statistics of candidates’ performance at the examination, the HNO said that 8,113 candidates obtained credits and above in two subjects.

    He noted that 6,375 others obtained credits and above in three subjects, while 4,762 candidates obtained credits and above in four subjects.

    Adenipekun also said that 3,263 candidates obtained credits and above in five subjects, while 2,010 others obtained credits and above in six subjects.

    “A total 1,937 candidates, representing 17.13 per cent, obtained the minimum of credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.

    “The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE in 2017 was 26.01 per cent.

    “From the statistics of performance, it is safe to say that candidates performance is not satisfactory, compared to what obtained in the same diet for private candidates in 2016 and 2017.

    “We, therefore, wish to plead with candidates to take this examination seriously,’’ he said.

    The HNO, however, expressed satisfaction at the response of Nigerians to the newly-introduced diet.

    He added that it was encouraging and would propel the council to expand to more cities and towns.

    Adenipekun said the introduction of the diet would also stem the tendency by some candidates to get involved in examination malpractice.

    He explained that the additional diet for private candidates was part of council’s contributions to the efforts of governments at all levels to expand the educational opportunities in the West African sub-region.

    Adenipekun urged candidates who sat for the examination to check the details of their performance on the council’s results website.

    NAN

  • WAEC will be 100% technology driven in 2018 – HNO

    WAEC will be 100% technology driven in 2018 – HNO

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it will sensitise and train its workforce on key areas of technology deployment in order to improve its operations in 2018.

    The council’s Head, National Office (HNO), Mr Olu Adenipekun disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

    According to him, the council has organised series of retreats for both management staff and the workforce in preparatory to deploy technology in its operations.

    “We have worked hard in sensitising the workforce of the council and prepare their minds because it is one thing for one to strive to do something

    “But if the people that drives the system are not attuned psychologically, to doing that all such efforts will be fruitless.

    “So, we want to prepare our psyche on the need to sharpen our tools in preparation to move over to a 100 per cent technologically driven WAEC and of course we have done that and we are going full blast,’’ he said.

    The HNO noted that already, the council’s budget for 2018 had been fully designed to support the introduction of technology into the various aspects of its operation in Nigeria.

    He explained that the move would put WAEC at the level it was expected to be in the comity of examination bodies worldwide.

    “Members of staff of the council must be able to go beyond being a staff of the ICT Department. Even if one is a messenger, one should be able to ask how he can deploy technology to carry out his duties and this applies to all other operational components of council.

    “So, this is an era where we are looking at 2018 as a year where we will be deploying technology in all facets of our operations, not just in conducting examination, processing of results and printing of certificates but in all areas of our operations,’’ the HNO said.

    On the possibility of introducing Computer Based Test (CBT) platform for its examination, Adenipekun said that the CBT was not an examination mode that was limited to any particular examination body.