…Withholds results of candidates from indebted states
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has reviewed its examination fee per candidate upward from N13, 950 to N18, 000 for the 2022 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSSCE).
The increment, which amounts to about 29 per cent, will take effect with the 2022 senior school certificate examination (SSCE).
The council’s head of national office, Mr. Patrick Areghan, announced this yesterday while briefing journalists on the release of this year’s WASSSCE at the council’s office in Yaba, Lagos.
He explained that the increase became necessary because of rising costs the examination body was incurring in conducting its examinations.
“Owing to the devastating effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic which has brought the global economy to its knees, the unabating spiraling inflation in the country as can be seen in the general cost of doing business and the multiplier effect of the unabating insecurity in the country, which have consequential effects on the cost of our operations, it is no longer possible to continue to provide services with the current fee of N13, 950.00 per candidate.
“Furthermore, our ad-hoc workers – supervisors, examiners, checkers, item writers and indeed, all examination functionaries – have been agitating for improved remunerations.
“We have received approval from the appropriate quarters with effect from the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022, to charge N18, 000.00 per candidate. We are, therefore, asking all school principals to collect N18, 000.00 per candidate for registration.
“A part of this new fee has been dedicated to the enhancement of the remunerations for the various examination functionaries and our governing board has graciously approved the remunerations, which will come into effect from the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022,” he said.
Areghan announced that 81.7 per cent of the candidates who took the 2021 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.
He said out of the 1,560,261 candidates who 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 males, while 644,646 (50.57 per cent) were females.
Speaking on how such good performance was achieved, Areghan said it 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 pessimists. Our results are verifiable,” he said.
For candidates in the southeast whose examinations were disrupted by the sit-at-home order of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Areghan said they were registered free of charge for the WASSCE for private candidates to take the papers they missed.
He added that 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 …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 governorship election,” he said.
The head of national office also announced that the council had withheld the results of candidates sponsored by any state governments that are indebted to WAEC.
He declared that no candidate from such states would have access to their results.
Though Areghan did not list the specific indebted states, he however confirmed that some state governments were owing and that the results of the sponsored candidates would be withheld until the concerned governments pay up.
He said the results were being uploaded as of Monday (yesterday) afternoon and urged candidates who fulfilled all obligations including those who are not indebted to the examination body to check the website for the results.
“Candidates who sat the examination and who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can access their performance on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org. Needless restating the fact that the results of indebted candidates or Schools or States will not be released until they pay up.
“The Result Checker PIN and Serial Number required by candidates to check their results online are contained on the Candidate’s Smart Identity Card used during the conduct of the examination. Certificates of candidates whose results have been fully processed and released will be ready within the next 90 days, counting from today (yesterday),” he added.
