WAEC begins May 8 - NEWS FRONTIER DAILY

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Thursday, May 4, 2023

WAEC begins May 8






...may relocate schools due to security concerns 



The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has announced May 8 as the start of the 2023 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, for school candidates. 

The Council through her Nigerian Head of National Office, Mr.  Patrick Areghan, said the examination, which will end on June 23, will take into consideration the safety of students, and other stakeholders,  especially those in areas experiencing security challenges. 

Addressing newsmen at WAEC National Office, Yaba,  Lagos, Areghan said the Council would clamp down on all forms of misconduct and examination malpractice by students,  schools, and supervisors. 

"I am delighted to inform you that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, for school candidates, 2023 will take place between Monday, the 8th of May and Friday, the 23rd of June, 2023 in Nigeria, spanning seven weeks. 

"For the second time in succession, we have successfully reverted to May/June period for the conduct of the examination. This is remarkable. 

The breakdown of WASSCE meant for the regular exit-class (SS3) students in all approved government and private secondary schools in the country, has a total of 1,621,853 candidates from 20,851 secondary schools registered for the examination.  

"Out of this number, 798,810 are males, amounting to 49.25%, while 823,043  are females, which is 50.75% of the total candidature. The statistics show that there is a further increase and decrease in the number of females and males respectively, compared to the 2022 diet. 

"On the whole, the candidature for the 2023 WASSCE increased by 13, 868 over the figure of 2022, which was 1,607,985. 

Candidates would be examined in 76 subjects, made up of 197 papers. 

About 30,000 practicing senior secondary school teachers, nominated by the various state Ministries of Education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors. 

Teachers in all the schools presenting candidates for the examination would serve as invigilators in their respective schools.  Supervisors and invigilators for de-recognized schools would be solely appointed, from outside the schools, by the state Ministries of Education concerned, he explained. 

On some of the measures put in place to make this year's WASSCE seamless, Areghan noted the Council introduced the  CHATBOT Platform, a self-service system for candidates, that enables them to access their entries, confirmation of entry/registration and confirmation of continuous assessment score, CASS; and also the stepping up of security measures in insecurity-prone areas. 

His words: "We cannot feign ignorance of the level of insecurity in the country.  Conducting examinations in such a dreadful situation has been a daunting task. There are many flashpoints all over the country, and conducting examinations in such areas would require extra security arrangements.  

"Consequently, we are liaising with the Inspector General of Police, Brigade Commanders, other security agencies, and the various state governments to provide security to ensure that the examination is conducted in a secure and safe environment.  

We have also sought the intervention of the Honourable Minister of Education in this respect.

Similarly, our Zonal and Branch Offices have reached out to various security outfits in their respective locations for assistance. 

Courtesy visits and other forms of appeals have been made and we have been assured of the full cooperation of the security agencies to this effect. 

"If and when the need arises, schools in insecurity-prone areas would be relocated to safe havens, with the full approval, co-operation and participation by the Federal or State Government concerned," Areghan reiterated. 

Meanwhile, the Council which lamented the challenges over the implementation of the CASS policy due to the uncooperative attitude of some schools for various reasons, has  called on all stakeholders to ensure that the rules and regulations of the body are strictly adhered to. 

Reiterating the activities of miracle centres and rogue websites operations, Areghan noted: " Let me again warn the operators of the so-called “Miracle Centres” that their game is up. I wish to stress that their existence is only in the imagination of their operators and patrons as WAEC has no such schools in its records, even though we know they exist. We are closely watching all suspected schools.

 However remotely located any school may be, it will not escape our radar as our in-built anti-malpractice mechanism will be deployed to catch them. 

"I want to reiterate that it is left for candidates to choose between something or nothing; having their results or the risk of not having their results and wasting the entire six years they spent in school; and for schools; having their results or facing the risk of not having their results and being derecognized. Please be warned. 

" And the operators of rogue websites, WAEC will not condone their heinous acts during the conduct of the fast approaching examination. 

"Parents are hereby advised to desist from patronizing these evil-doers who are hell-bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC and destroying the destiny of their children.  

They should have nothing to do with them as that would only lead to the truncation of their children’s future.  Meanwhile, we are perfecting strategies, as usual,  with all relevant agencies to checkmate these fraudsters and bring them and their patronizers to book.  There will be no hiding place for them. Be warned, " he said.

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