BY DAYO ADESULU
The West African Examinations Council has released the results of the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, recording 65.24% credit pass in English Language and Mathematics.
This was disclosed on Monday in Lagos by the Head of National Office, Nigeria, Mr Patrick Areghan .
He said: “One Million Three Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty Eight (1,003,668) candidates, representing 65.24%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.”
He explained that the improvement in the candidates performance was due to improvement in online learning facility by various schools during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In breakdown of the results, Areghan said: “A total of One Million Five Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty (1,549,740) candidates registered for the examination from Nineteen Thousand One Hundred and Twenty-Nine (19,129) recognised secondary schools in Nigeria. Of the number that registered for the examination, One Million Five Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-Five (1,538,445) candidates sat the examination.
“ Total of Four Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty (4,280) candidates with varying degrees of Special Needs were registered for the examination. Out of this number, Two Hundred and Thirty (230) were visually challenged, Seven Hundred and Forty-Five (745) had impaired hearing; Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-Two (2,852) had low vision; Thirty-Eight (38) were spastic cum mentally challenged, and Fifty-Eight (58) were physically challenged. All these candidates with special needs were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination. The results of these candidates have been processed and released along with those of other candidates.
“Of the total number of One Million Five Hundred and Thirty Eighty Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-Five (1,538,445) candidates that sat the examination, Seven Hundred and Eighty Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty (780,660) were males while Seven Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-Five (757,785) were females, representing 50.74% and 49.26%, respectively.
“Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, One Million Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty-Seven (1,456,727) candidates, representing 94.69% have their results fully processed and released while Eighty-One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighteen (81,718) candidates, representing 5.31% 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.
“The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the One Million Five Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-Five (1,538,445) candidates that sat the examination,
“One Million Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Three Hundred and Forty-Eight (1,338,348) candidates, representing 86.99%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics;
“One Million Three Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty Eight (1,003,668) candidates, representing 65.24%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
“Of this number, Four Hundred and Ninety-Seven Thousand One Hundred and Thirty-Nine (497,139) i. e. 49.53% were male candidates, while Five Hundred and Six Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty-Nine (506,529) i.e. 50.47% were female candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2019, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 64.18%. Thus, there is a marginal 1.06% improvement in performance in this regard.
” Of the results Two Hundred and Fifteen Thousand One Hundred and Forty-Nine (215,149) candidates, representing 13.98% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice. 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. The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates through their various schools. “
He therefore urged Candidates who sat the examination and who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council to access their performance on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org.
Meanwhile, Areghan added that: “The examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea where the Nigeria curriculum for Senior Secondary School is being used. Remarkably, the examination was also conducted in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, the first time since the abduction of over 200 school girls in the area by insurgents, six years ago.”
