The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has withheld the results of 262,803 candidates who wrote the 2023 school candidate West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

It also disclosed that “a total of 1,287,920 candidates, representing 79.81 per cent , obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Of this number, 616,914, that is 47.9 per cent, were male candidates, while 671,006, that is 52.1 per cent, were female candidates.

Mr Patrick Areghan, the council’s Head of National Office (HNO), said this at a news conference to announce the release of the results.

He said that the results were withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.

According to him, the figure represents 16.29 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination.

He said that this was 6.54 per cent lower than the 22.83 per cent recorded in the same diet for School Candidates in 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,” he said.

He added that all reported cases were being investigated and reports of the investigations would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for consideration and final decisions.

According to him, 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,” he added.

Giving a further breakdown of the results, Areghan noted that a total of 1,621,884 candidates registered for the examination, from 20,867 recognised secondary schools in the country.

He said that, of the registered candidates, 1,613,733 sat the examination.

The HNO said that 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 was being used.

He noted that, of the total number of candidates that registered for the examination, 70,794 are with varying degrees of Special Needs.

According to him, out of this number, 109 are visually impaired, 386 with impaired hearing, 33 spastic cum mentally challenged and 34 others 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.”

On the categories of the results, he said that out of the number of candidates that sat the examination, a total of 1,476,565, representing 91.5 per cent had their results fully processed and released.

Areghan noted that 137,168 others, representing 8.5 per cent, had a few of their subjects still being processed, due to some shortcomings, ranging from non-challance, lethargy, incomplete CASS upload, disobedience of rubrics, and others associated with the schools and candidates concerned.

He explained that efforts were 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 WAEC boss spoke on the analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination.

He said it showed that out of the 1,613,733 candidates that sat the examination, a total of 1,361,608 representing 84.38 per cent , obtained credit and above in a minimum of any 5 subjects, that is, with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics.

“A total of 1,287,920 candidates, representing 79.81 per cent , obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Of this number, 616,914, that is 47.9 per cent, were male candidates, while 671,006, that is 52.1 per cent, were female candidates.

“The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates in 2022, that is, those who obtained credit and above in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 76.36 per cent , thus, there is a 3.45 per cent decrease in performance in this regard,” Areghan stated.

Speaking further, he stressed that the council would continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice, noting that all supervisors, teachers and candidates perpetrating this evil were not helping the education system.

He warned that state governments yet to pay council registration fees of their candidates would not be able to access the results of such candidates, until they pay up.

“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 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,” he said.

The HNO, whose tenure comes to an end on Oct. 1, said  that results of candidates who wrote the 2023 WASSCE for School Candidates were already 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 Certificate of candidates who sat for this year’s WASSCE for School Candidates 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: http://www.waecdirect.org.

“After accessing their results, candidates can visit WAEC to confirm, share and download digital copies of their certificates. Copies of the result listing will be sent to schools shortly.

“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,” he said.

He said that insecurity and non adherence to registration deadline as some of the hiccups the council had encountered in their preparation for the the conduct of its examination. (NAN)