The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced that 81.7 percent of the candidates that took the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates made credit passes in five subjects, including English and Mathematics.
It is the first time in more than one decade that Nigeria has recorded such performance.
Head of WAEC National Office, Mr. Patrick Areghan, said during a press briefing to announce the results on Monday at the Council headquarters in Yaba that of the 1,560,261 SS3 candidates that sat for the examination, 1,274,784 achieved the minimum benchmark needed for admission into the university.
Of the number, 630,138 (49.43 per cent) were male, while 644,646 (50.57 percent) were female.
When asked how such good performance was achieved, Areghan said the good performance should be attributed to efforts by the various states ministries of education, schools, and candidates.
“The good performance was not our doing. It is the doing, the efforts of the various ministries, of education, schools and candidates. They may have used our chief examiner’s report to improve preparation for the examination.
“Let us not be doubting Thomases and incurable persimists. Our results are verifiable,” he said.
For candidates in the Southeast whose examinations were disrupted by the sit-at-home activities of IPOB, Areghan said they were registered free of charge for the WASSCE for private candidates to take papers they missed.
He said the result was being released 45 days after the seven-week examination ended on October 8 despite serious challenges the Council faced in conducting and grading the examination.
“The examination ended October 8, 2021 and today, Monday November 22, 2021 – 45 days after the conduct of the last paper, we are releasing the result! This is a record time, taking into consideration the fact that we lost a week to insecurity, during the marking exercise in the Southeast, occasioned by the heightened tension before and during the Anambra gubernatorial election,” he said.
Speaking on 2022 WASSCE, Areghan said, the fees had been increased from N13,950 to N18,000 per candidate as a result of increasing cost.
“We have received approval from the appropriate quarters with effect from the WASSCE for school candidates 2022, to charge N18,000 per candidate. we are therefore asking all school principals to collect N18,000 per candidate for registration. A part of this new fee has been dedicated to the enhancement of the remunerations for the various examination functionaries,” he said.
The HNO also said the timetable for examination would return to the normal May-June belt. He also said the National Identity Number (NIN) would be a prerequisite for registration, urging candidates to ensure they enrol before then.
“Another component of the registration requirements will be the national identification number of candidates. schools will be expected to supply the NIN of every candidate as part of the registration requirements. this is in line with the directive of The honourable Minister of Education.
“We advise all schools to comply accordingly. They should ensure that all their SS3 students and indeed, all students register to obtain their NIN in order to make the registration process seamless,” he said.