The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has explained what schools or candidates whose May\June West African Senior School Certificate Examination(WASSCE) results are being withheld can do to get them released faster than usual.
The council also explained how to go about the process with the affected candidates or their schools using the link provided as
Recall that a total of 215,267 (representing 11.92%) out of the total 1,805,216 candidates, who sat the school-based exam are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of exam malpractice while their cases are under investigations to determine if those results will be released or not.
Also, a total of 1,301,941 (representing 72.12%) of the total candidates, who sat the exam obtained credits and above in at least five mandatory subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, which is a marginal decrease of 7.69% from last year performance in the same exam which was 79.81%
The seizure of results, however, has put many parents and affected candidates and their schools in apprehension as the seized results are what they relying on to gain admissions into universities or other tertiary schools during this ongoing admission process.
Some of them who spoke to Nigerian Tribune and denied their involvement in malpractice during the exam urged WAEC to fast-track its investigations and release their results so as not to miss out in this year’s admission.
However, WAEC told this medium that withholding of results like those in focus is not a strange thing as the action was based on alleged malpractice and there is strict procedure and time frame to follow to resolve the matter.
WAEC’s spokesperson, Mrs Moyosola Adesina, who gave the explanation in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, said WAEC as an organisation doesn’t delay investigations into reported cases of malpractice in all its exams.
According to her, WAEC knows the importance of candidates results and the essence of time concerning their admission into universities or any other school.
But she pointed out that the council will have to investigate all the cases one after the other through committee system.
She said, “The committee wil review all the cases thoroughly and release results of those whose cases can be easily resolved and other much later and all within a time frame .
“So, some results will be released before the Nigeria Examination Committee (NEC) of WAEC will meet in October or much earlier.
“So, the waiting period for candidates who are affected won’t be long.
“Of course, we have over 200 thousand cases and we have to look at them critically so that the council won’t punish those who should not be punished.
“And that is why the council also came up with a portal for candidates or schools who want to prove their innocence to lodge their complaints for speedy attention by WAEC.
“This is also a way of fair hearing from the affected candidates or schools- to give them opportunity to defend themselves.
“So, candidates can go to the portal using the link earlier given and supply their details. By that, they will be able to know the exact offence they committed and warranted the seizure of their results.
“Candidates or schools at that point can request for their papers in question and prove their innocence with evidence of case or cases reported against them.
“Sometimes, exam malpractice may involve one or multiple candidates or the entire school for a particular subject or multiple subjects.
“Also, people should know that exam malpractice that escaped undetected in the exam halls will be detected during marking of scripts when you discover that candidates must have, for example, copied themselves to write their answers word for word.
“But certainly, there must be a case against somebody before results can be seized.
“So, if the affected candidates or schools are able to prove their innocence convicingly, their results will certainly be released before NEC meeting.
“It is NEC that ratifies the outcome of all the investigations and recommendations as regard whether seized results should be released or not.”
She noted that some candidates with withheld results in the past including last year had their results released much earlier than the general release.
