Of the 413,266 candidates that sat for the 2012 November/December West African Senior School Certificate examination (WASSCE), 47,289 candidates cheated and their results have been consequently withheld, the West African Examination Council said on Friday.
The disclosure was made at a press conference in Lagos by the head of the national office of the examination body, Mr. Charles Eguridu, who explained that the result is an improvement on previous results of examinations conducted or regulated by the body.
Eguridu revealed that the cases of examination fraud are under investigation and that the reports of the investigations would be presented to the Nigerian Examination Council (NEC) for consideration, adding that the affected candidates would be kept abreast of developments as the investigations unfold.
He said the results of 406,108 other candidates had been fully processed while the subjects of 7,158 candidates are still being processed, a situation he attributed to errors committed by the candidates during their registration.
Eguridu also confirmed that 49 blind candidates sat for the examination and that 23 of them obtained credits and above in five subjects, including English Language. He said blind candidates do not sit for Mathematics and Science practicals in WASSCE diets.
While a total of 161,706 candidates obtained six credits and above as stated by Eguridu, 268,688 others obtained credits and above in four subjects, 309,706 candidates obtained credits and above in three subjects, 343,352 obtained credits and above in two subjects, and 150,615 candidates obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
He also said that 259,259 candidates obtained credits and above in English Language, while 226,608 others obtained credits in Mathematics.
“In the Nov/Dec 2010 WASSCE, we recorded 74,700 number of passes, representing 24.16 per cent. In 2011, the examination recorded a total of 139, 827, representing 36.07 per cent. In 2012, records have just shown that we recorded a total of 150,615 passes, representing 37.97 per cent,” he further said.
He lamented the rising cases of examination malpractice in the country but said that if the country’s education sector must regain not only its past glory but also improve and compete with those of other nations, “we must partner with one another in the fight of this monster.”
He then appealed that the education sector be urgently rescued, saying WAEC has put up plans to introduce biometric features in its registration process for examinations to curb examination fraud.
