The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has shifted the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.
The examination which traditionally held May/June, will now take place from August 16 to September 30.
Head of Public Affairs of WAEC Office in Nigeria, Demianus Ojijeogu, who announced the development in a statement on Friday, said the international timetable for the conduct of the examination would be released in due course.
Ojijeogu said the new dates announced by the examination body was in line with the current academic calendar and was done in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.
He noted the controversy triggered by the address of the Head of National Office, Patrick Areghan, at a press briefing to announce the release of results of the 2021 first series of the WASSCE for private candidates on Tuesday.
The examination body’s spokesman decried that the national office head was wrongly quoted to have said that WACE had postponed the 2021 WASSCE.
Areghan, at the briefing, had said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were still very much felt in the education sector, and the academic calendar had been distorted.
He said these factors have made it not to be possible to have the examination in May/June as earlier scheduled.
Reacting to the controversy trailing the remarks of the national office head, Ojijeogu stated that Areghan was quoted out of context.
The statement from WAEC partly reads, “We wish to categorically state that the head of the national office was quoted out of context.
The head of the national office had in his address during the press briefing stated as follows: ‘Let me also use this opportunity to dispel rumours being peddled about by some people regarding the conduct of WASSCE for school candidates, 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still very much felt in the education sector. The academic calendar has been distorted. It will, therefore, not be possible to have the examination in May/June this year. A convenient International Timetable for the conduct of the examination will soon be released.’
The arrangement is in line with the current academic calendar and was done in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.
Announcing the results of the WASSCE for private candidates, WAEC said a total of 7,690 candidates entered for the examination, representing a 38 per cent decline when compared with the 2020 figure.
Of the figure, 2,195 candidates, representing 30.11 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
“The number of candidates that had five credits, including English Language and Mathematics may not necessarily be a basis for judging the level of performance in the examination,” Areghan had said.
An analysis of the percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for private candidates for 2019 and 2020, and those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, according to Areghan, were 26.08 per cent and 32.23 per cent respectively.
“Thus, there is a marginal decrease of 2.12 per cent in performance in this regards,” he said.
Areghan noted that the number of candidates, who had five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, might not necessarily be a basis for judging the level of performance in the examination, as it is more or less a remedial one.
“Some candidates may just need only one or two papers, other than English Language and or Mathematics, to remedy their admission deficiencies,” he added.
A further analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates shows that out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 2,938 candidates representing 40.31 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects (with or without English Language and or Mathematics; out of which 1,396 are male and 1,542 are female representing 47.52 per cent and 52.48 per cent respectively.
Areghan said out of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 7,174 candidates representing 98.42 per cent have their results fully processed and released, while 115 candidates representing 1.58 per cent have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors on the part of the candidates.
“Efforts are, however, being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently,” Areghan said.
