By Leshi Adebayo
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced an unprecedented success record in its May/June 2021 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results.
The latest result is said to be arguably the best to be released in over a decade.
According to WAEC, a total of 1,560,261 students sat for the exam of which 1,274,784 students — representing 81.7% — obtained at least a credit pass in 5 subjects including Mathematics and English Language.
Mr Patrick Areghan, Head of Nigerian Office (HNO) for the examination body, while making the announcement at the WAEC office in Yaba, Lagos, stated that he was impressed by the performance.
He said, “One Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty Four (1,274,784) candidates, representing 81.7%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
“Of this number, Six Hundred and Thirty Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty Eight (630,138) i.e. 49.43% were male candidates, while Six Hundred and Forty Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty Six (644,646) i.e. 50.57% were female candidates.
“The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2020, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 65.24%.
“Thus, there is an appreciable 16.46% improvement in performance in this regard.”
Commending the efforts of the government at both federal and state levels, Areghan stated that the former deserved credit for the improvement in performance as WAEC cannot seem to take all the glory for the unprecedented success.
He noted that the examination body only made collaborative efforts towards enhancing the standard of education in Nigeria and other West African countries.
Explaining further, Areghan, however, said that there were challenges that surfaced in the course of organizing the examination.
“The examination spanned seven weeks, between August 16 and October 8, 2021. Throughout the period, we were faced with serious security challenges in the South East (IPOB and ESN sit-at-home order) and banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, etc, in the north and other parts of the country.
“All these, coupled with the continuous effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic, made the whole exercise an Herculean one,” he said.
Areghan also stated that 170,146 (10.9% of the total candidates) results of some candidates were withheld “in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.”
He added, “Of great worry here is the activities of rogue-website operators and some other social media platforms, who post examination questions online immediately after the commencement of the paper being administered.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools, are other big concerns. All the cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will be presented to the appropriate Committee of the Council for determination in due course.”
