WAEC withholds 112,000 results over examination malpratices

Lagos – The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Friday said it withheld the results of 112,000 candidates who sat for the May/June 2012 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Dr Iyi Uwadiae, Head of National Office of WAEC, who addressed newsmen in Lagos, said that the results were withheld over examination malpractices.

“I want to say that these cases are already being investigated and the reports of our findings will be presented to the Nigerian Examinations Committee (NEC) of the council in due course for consideration.

“The committee’s decision will be communicated to the affected candidates through their schools,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of the results, he disclosed that only 1,672,224 of the 1,695,878 candidates who registered for the examination nationwide sat for it.

He said that those who sat for the examination include 923,974 males and 748,250 females and that only 1,545,004 had their results fully released.

Uwadiae said that a few subjects of 150,874 other candidates were still being processed, due to some errors mainly traceable to the candidates and schools in the course of registration or writing the examination.
He disclosed that 771,731 candidates had six credits and above, 952,156 others had five credits and above while 1,107,747 had credits and above in four subjects.

Uwadiae said that 1,246,729 had credits and above in three subjects and 1,380,596 obtained credits and above in just two subjects.

The head of national office said a total of 649,156 candidates who sat for the examination obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics

He said that out of the 114 blind candidates that registered for the examination, only 95 sat for it and 21 of them had credits in five subjects including English Language.

He said that blind candidates were usually not allowed to take Mathematics and Science practicals.
Uwadiae said that the performance of candidates was an improvement, compared to previous years.
“This year’s results have shown an improvement on the 23.71 per cent of candidates who obtained credits in five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics in a similar examination in 2010.

“This year’s 649,156 candidates with that record, represented 38.81 per cent and I can say that this is a marked improvement in the performance of the candidates,” he said.
Uwadiae attributed the improvement to the investment made by the current administration in the education sector, which he said, was in line with the transformation agenda.

He urged candidates to check for the details of their performance on the council’s result website within the next 48 hours. (NAN)