Breaking News:WAEC releases 2023 results, says 1,476,565 results fully processed, 137,168 still pending
Written By Dedeigbo Ayodeji Samson
Posted By Town Crier News Nigeria
Published By Fitness Network Communications
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Nigeria, has announced that it would on Monday, August 7, 2023, release the results of the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the candidates in Nigeria.
Patrick E.Areghan, head of its national office in Lagos made this known in a press briefing.
Areghan, who said the event was a valedictory occasion, presented his scorecard since assuming office in 2020.
He said: With mixed feelings, and with a heart filled with joy and overwhelming emotions, I hereby announce to you that this is the last press briefing I will be having with you under the auspices of WAEC, as Head of the Nigeria National Office. The days of sleepless nights, travelling for inspection and other official assignments, are almost over. These activities have become an integral part of my life and it will not be out of place to say I will miss them.
Mr.Patrick Ehidiame Areghan Head Of Nigeria National Office (HNO) WAEC addressing the Newsmen early hour of today
You will recall that the baton to champion the cause of this flagship organisation was passed to me on March 6, 2020. Shortly after that, the COVID-19 Pandemic became more visible in Nigeria. Public gatherings became impossible, and the examination scheduled to commence on 6th April, 2020 could not hold as originally scheduled. Everybody was scared stiff. Nobody wanted to take any action that could further put the life of the Nigerian Child in greater peril. However, after much discussions with relevant authorities, the examination was finally conducted, within four weeks, spanning from 17th August to 12th September, 2020.
‘For these past four years, my management team and I have worked so hard and have experienced a quantum leap in the achievements of the Council, including revert of the School Candidates examination period to May/June.
Distinguished Gentlemen of the Media, you will agree with me that the revert to May/June period for the conduct of the School candidates examination is remarkable and significant as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the various member States, except Ghana, have now again found a common ground in respect of their academic calendars. This shows a massive recovery from the devastating effects, disruptions and confusion caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
2. Examination Period
The WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023 spanned seven (07) weeks, from May 8 to June 23, 2023.
3. CHALLENGES
(1) Insecurity
During the conduct of the examination, we were faced with the Herculean task of conducting the examination in a harsh environment, owing to the financial constraints orchestrated by the cashless policy and the hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), as a result of fuel subsidy removal. In addition to that, there was insecurity in some parts of the country, such as banditry, kidnapping and insurgency. Disruptions were experienced in some parts of the South East due to the enforcement of sit-at-home order by gun-men. There were also some serious concerns in parts of the North West. Another serious incident was that of armed robbery which happened at Okigwe, on the road to Enugu on June 4, 2023. The armed robbers took away our vehicle and the contents, but to the glory of God, no one was harmed. The vehicle was found after two days, with all the contents intact! However, we had already reprinted the codes involved at extra cost that was not budgeted for. This incident disrupted our logistics and scheduled operations. We are thankful to God that the examination was conducted and scripts marked successfully, in spite of all the challenges experienced. This was achieved through collaboration with the State governments concerned, the Military and the Nigeria Police Force.
2. Non-Adherence to Registration Deadline
Again, non-adherence to registration deadline was one of the hiccups the Council encountered on the road to the conduct of the examination. Some schools were simply lackadaisical and failed to do the needful.
Some failed to upload their students’ CASS at the stipulated time, and many failed to meet registration deadlines to the extent that some these schools did not eventually present their students for the examination. Yet, some who registered their students offline failed to upload their entries! This showed an unacceptable level of nonchalance. It was simply ludicrous when the authorities of some schools reported WAEC to some high quarters for insisting on the right thing to be done, and when they simply failed to do the needful!
It should be known to all and sundry that registration for WAEC examinations is not an open-ended thing. Pre-examination materials, examination materials and post-examination materials have to be produced using data supplied by candidates/schools, in good time, before the conduct of any diet. Failure to meet these requirements would throw the entire process into jeopardy. We plead for cooperation and understanding in this respect to make future exercises seamless and more successful.
WAEC has continued to grant credit facilities to some very credit-worthy and reliable States who pay the registration fee of their candidates. Unfortunately, some States have been owing large sums of money for years now and have simply refused to pay after the needed services had been rendered by WAEC, thus denying us the needed funds to carry out our activities. States sponsoring candidates for the examination must show commitment, willingness, readiness and ability to pay or redeem their pledges. We make bold to say that the results of the indebted States will not be released along with others.
(3) Financial Issues/Inflation
The high inflation rate in the country has affected the cost of everything. The Council is not insulated. This has added to the challenges we face regarding the cost of conducting examinations. Gentlemen of the media, the introduction of the cashless policy, which brought a halt to all financial activities in the country, affected the business of the Council. This made us to experience a delay in the supply of materials needed for the examination. Also, the removal of the fuel subsidy barely three weeks into the examination, harshly affected the turn of events. Linked to this was the associated cost of navigating the insecurity in the land, by way of air transportation, hotel bills, etc.
(4) Rogue Website Operators/Shameless Connivance of Some Supervisors
The activities of rogue website operators and the so-called miracle centres once again reared their ugly heads, but they did not go unnoticed and unpunished, as the Council was able to identify and apprehend these unpatriotic fellows through the help of security operatives. Some supervisors compromised their positions and allowed candidates to come into the examination hall with their cell phones. Sometimes, they did the snapping and posting of questions themselves. A good number of supervisors, invigilators, school proprietors, and principals who were caught aiding and abetting examination malpractice by way of snapping and posting examination question papers online were arrested in Abia, Borno, Imo, Ogun and Oyo States. They are currently chatting with the Police all over the federation. The Council, on its part, through the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), will mete out appropriate sanctions to affected supervisors through the various State Ministries of Education. Some people continue to make the mistake of thinking that WAEC posts questions on its website, and that because these websites are not well secured, that’s why candidates have access to them! This is most untrue and unfair.
4. Coordination and Marking Exercise
The Coordination of Examiners and Marking of Candidates’ Scripts held from July 11 to July 31, 2023, at Eighty-Six (86) Marking Venues, comprising Eighty – Five Traditional Marking Venues and One (1) e-Marking Venue throughout the country. A total of Eighty-Three Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty-Nine (83,559) Examiners, comprising Eighty-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety-Six (82,896) traditional examiners and Six Hundred and Sixty-Three (663) e-examiners, participated in the coordination and marking exercises.
Gentlemen of the media, the conduct of WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023 ended on June 23, 2023, and today, Monday, August 7, 2023, 44 days after the conduct of the last paper, one day short of the existing template, the result is being released!
The Council in Nigeria has not rested on it oars, it has rebuilt, reinvented, strengthened and modernised its product and service delivery to all stakeholders and has continued to prioritise the use of technology in most of its operations to enhance the quality of its service delivery. This has positively impacted the prompt release of the result in focus, despite all the inconveniences encountered on the field.
Today, I am happy to inform you that all the processes leading to the release of results have been completed. It is now my pleasure to announce the release of the results of candidates that sat the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2023, in Nigeria.
A total of One Million, Six Hundred and Twenty-One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Four (1,621,884) candidates registered for the examination from Twenty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Seven (20,867) recognized secondary schools in the country. Of the number that registered for the examination, One Million, Six Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-Three (1,613,733) candidates sat the examination. The examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian curriculum for Senior Secondary Schools is being used.
I also wish to report that a total of Seventy Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four (70,794) candidates, with varying degrees of Special Needs, registered for the examination. Out of this number, One Hundred and Nine (109) were visually impaired, Three Hundred and Eight-Six (386) had impaired hearing; Thirty-Three (33) were spastic cum mentally challenged and Thirty-Four (34) were physically challenged. All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of these candidates have been processed and are also now being released along with those of other candidates.
Of the total number of One Million, Six Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-Three (1,613,733) candidates that sat the examination, Seven Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty (794,280) were males while Eight Hundred and Nineteen Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty-Three (819,453) were females, representing 49.22%% and 50.78%, respectively.
Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination in Nigeria, One Million, Four Hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty-Five (1,476,565) candidates, representing 91.5% have their results fully processed and released while One Hundred and Thirty-Seven Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty-Eight (137,168) candidates, representing 8.5% have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some shortcomings, nonchalant, lethargy, incomplete CASS upload, disobedience of rubrics, etc associated with the schools and candidates concerned. However, efforts are being made to complete the resolution process to enable all the affected candidates to speedily get their results fully processed and released within the next couple of days.
The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the One Million, Six Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, seven Hundred and Thirty-Three (1,613,733) candidates that sat the examination, One Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand, Six Hundred and Eight (1,361,608) candidates, representing 84.38%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics;
One Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Seven, Nine Hundred and Twenty (1,287,920) candidates, representing 79.81%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Of this number, Six Hundred and Sixteen Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fourteen (616,914) i.e. 47.9% were male candidates, while Six Hundred and Seventy-One Thousand and Six (671,006) i.e. 52.1% were female candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 76.36%. Thus, there is 3.45% decrease in performance in this regard.
5. EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE
The results of Two Hundred and Sixty-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Three (262,803) candidates, representing 16.29% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice. This is (6.54%) lower than the 22.83% recorded in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022. The reasons for this are not far-fetched. Candidates are no longer ready to study, they lack self-confidence and preparations for examinations are poor. There is over-reliance on the so-called ‘Expo’, which is non-existent. Candidates got frustrated when they got to the examination hall and discovered that all they had celebrated was fake. This has pitiably led to some of them failing the examination, which, if they had relied on themselves and studied adequately, would have passed like many others.
The Council will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice. Schools, supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating this evil are not helping the educational system. It is the Child whose future is being destroyed. Parents must stop funding the so-called ‘expo’ for their children; it does not help. Those who indulge in posting items on designated platforms do not mean well for the candidates. They are simply destroying the future of our children. We can assure you that perpetrators and beneficiaries of such ‘help’ will never go unpunished. This must not be allowed to continue. It is our collective responsibility to defeat this evil.
Gentlemen of the Media, despite the existing ban, the increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall and organised cheating in some schools are unabating. All the reported cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for consideration and final decisions. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their various schools in due course. Candidates affected by these decisions can now call for redress if they so wish. This is our humble way of giving the candidates a fair hearing and thus, maintaining their fundamental human right.
Gentlemen of the Media, the results of candidates who wrote the WASSCE for School Candidates 2023 are being uploaded on the results website, as I speak A very big innovation is that after checking the result, candidates can access their Digital certificate simultaneously. That is the Digital certificates of candidates who sat for the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023 and have no pending issues, by way of unresolved queries or hanging cases of examination malpractice, are ready on the Digital certificate platform! Printing of the physical (hard copy) certificates will commence 90 days from today. This is an innovation that will make admission processes seamless, and with a high level of mobility.
Candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can access their results on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org. After accessing their results, candidates can visit www.waec.org to confirm, share and download digital copies of their certificates! Copies of the Result Listing will be sent to schools shortly. I need to restate that the results of candidates sponsored by States indebted to the Council will not be released now until they pay up. We appeal to them to do so to enable the affected schools/candidates to access their results.
The Result Checker PIN and Serial Number required by candidates to check their results online are on the Candidate’s Smart Identity Card used during the examination.
6. OTHER EXAMINATIONS
The registration for the WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2023 – Second Series is currently ongoing. The registration commenced on the 10th of July, 2023, and the first entry period will end on the 11th of August, 2023. Also, there will be a provision for walk-in candidates throughout the examination. You can enroll a day before the date of the paper you wish to take and simply walk into the examination hall to take it. Candidates will be tested in 36 subjects/108 papers. The examination will be conducted in all the states of the federation. Registration PINs can be purchased from accredited banks and Cashless Payment Points/Point of Sales (POS) operators. The Registration PIN costs Eighteen Thousand (18,000) naira only, with a commission fee of N500.00 only payable to the sales agent. Candidates can log on to www.waeconline.org.ng for more information.
Another innovation is that candidates can now check online to ascertain the correctness of their registration details to avoid request for amendment later, which may not even be granted. Candidates must supply their NIN as part of the registration requirements.
The WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2024 – First Series will follow shortly after the end of the WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2023 – Second Series, in January/February 2024. These various examination diets are aimed at reducing, the wait-time for candidates to access examinations and obtain results, thus facilitating access to higher education.
7. MILESTONES
Gentlemen of the media, through various interactions, you are already aware of the milestone achievements recorded under my stewardship, which have greatly improved service delivery to our stakeholders. They include, but not limited to the following:
1. Establishment of a functional WAEC Nigeria Digital Printing Press (WNDPP) after 71 years of existence;
2. Launch of Digital Certificate (DigiCert) platform;
3. Launch of Educational Statistics (EDUSTAT) platform that enables stakeholders to access statistics online;
4. WAEC ChatBot that enables stakeholders to access all WAEC services online, real-time even in the comfort of your home.
5. WAEC Verify – that enables institutions to access candidates’ results through direct link to WAEC database;
6. WAEC e-Study Library which exposes students to learning materials – past question papers, answers and marking scheme (To be launched soon);
7. Robust computer based test services at our state-of-the-art WAEC Testing and Training Centre (WTTC), Ogba, Lagos;
8. Centre Locator, that enables the supervisor or inspector to locate any school-centre during the conduct of the examinations without missing their way;
9. Promotion of staff welfare;
10. Conduct of all examinations since 2020, release of results, printing and issue of certificates to deserving candidates.
8. CONCLUSION
Gentlemen of the media, the Management and the entire Staff of the Council in Nigeria, wish to express their profound gratitude to the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the immediate Past Honourable Minister of Education, and Minister of State for Education, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and the various State Governments, for providing the enabling environment for the successful conduct of the WASSC examination for School Candidates, 2023 in Nigeria.
We wish to also extend our gratitude to all the Supervisors, Invigilators, Custodians, Examiners and other Ad-hoc personnel for their contributions towards the successful conduct of the examination and marking of scripts. Our sincere appreciation equally goes to the Chairman and Members of the Nigeria Administrative and Finance Committee of WAEC, and all retired staff of the Council (for their continuous prayers and support), other Friends of the Council-ANCOPSS, etc, the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Army for their assistance and cooperation before, during and after the conduct of the examination.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my colleagues – Heads of Division and the entire staff of the West African Examinations Council, Nigeria for their dedication, commitment, and unalloyed loyalty. They are my heroes/heroines, my invaluable pillars of support and strength.
Gentlemen of the Media, about four years ago, the management team and I decided to choose teamwork over individualism. Standing here today, I can say that the decision to pick teamwork paid off, and our achievements, from the successful conduct of all examinations, especially 2020 and 2021, to the launching of various innovations, are shreds of evidence of our teamwork. It has been a great honour and privilege to have led this team these past years. Together, we have rebuilt, reinvented, strengthened and modernised the services of the Council to serve the Nigerian Child better.
Looking back on my time as the Head of the Nigeria National Office, I can say we have confronted seemingly insurmountable organisational challenges and many booby straps. I have seen our team navigate these hurdles and mountains in ways that have not only made WAEC Nigeria a better organization but also made all of us far stronger. During these years, we have built products that delight our stakeholders, focused on our customer relations, driven substantial values for all our partners, and have made the Council the obvious best place to work.
We have enhanced our products and services to be far more modern and engaging. Our customer relations is now topnotch: instant response to social media messages and emails, solving challenges by putting them first.
Staff welfare has been the bedrock of our team; we have encouraged the proper placement of staff with qualifications and ensured staff comfort by providing a good transportation system and good health care.
I have taken time to dwell on some of my achievements because they are remarkable.
As I look back on these achievements, I want to sincerely thank every single employee of the Council, past and present, for their invaluable contributions. I am immensely grateful for all your hard work and the many sacrifices you have made. Our quest to serve the Nigerian Child better has required of us the most impressive display of teamwork, innovation and resilience I have ever seen. Working with you has made my time as the Head of the Nigeria National Office nothing short of a privilege. I was just Primus Inter Pares. You have written my name on the sands of time, you are the authors of my history.
I thank you all, gentlemen of the Media, for helping the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) tell its story and always responding to our calls. You told our, my, story and you have been professional in your reportage.
As I disengage from the services of the West African Examinations Council come October 1, 2023, it is an understatement to say I am going to miss you all. You will make my day by attending my disengagement Thanksgiving Ceremony on Saturday, October 7, 2023. My Public Affairs Officer will handle the rest.
Gentlemen of the media, I humbly implore you to extend the same hand of fellowship to my successor who will be unveiled to you at the appropriate time.