The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says the results of a total of 365,564 candidates who sat for its 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates have been withheld.

A total of 1,607,981 candidates registered for the examination from 20,222 recognised secondary schools across the country, but only 1,601, 047 sat for the test.

The council’s Head of National Office (HNO), Patrick Areghan, announced details of the examination results in Lagos on Monday.

Areghan said the withheld results were related to various reported cases of examination malpractice.

According to him, the number of seized results represents 22.83 per cent, making it 11.74 per cent higher than the 10.9 per cent recorded in the same examination diet in 2021.

Areghan said the students’ lack of zeal to learn was largely responsible for the development.

“I will say preparation for examination among our students is taking a serious nose dive, due to over-reliance on the so-called ‘Expo’, which is actually non-existent.

“Candidates simply got frustrated when they entered the examination hall and discovered that all they had celebrated, was actually fake.

“This has pitiably led to some of them failing the examination, which if they had relied on themselves and studied hard, would have passed like many others,” he stated.

The HNO said the council would continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice, adding that schools, supervisors, teachers, and candidates perpetrating the evil act were not helping the education system.

Areghan said all hands must be on deck to check the ugly trend.

He noted that the increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organised cheating in some schools were other nagging issues.

The WAEC boss said the examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian curriculum for senior secondary school was being used.

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Giving a further breakdown of statistics of the results, Areghan said of the total 1,601, 047 candidates who sat for the examination, 1,713 of them had varying degrees of special needs.

“Of the number of candidates with special needs, 128 of them were visually challenged, 583 others had impaired hearing and 387 were spastic cum mentally challenged.

“We also had 12 others who are physically challenged. All these candidates were adequately provided for in the administration of the examination.

“Results of this category of candidates have been processed and are also now being released along with those of other candidates,” he said.

Areghan further stated that of the total number that sat for the examination, a total of 1,437,629 candidates representing 89.79 per cent had their results fully processed and released.

According to him, a total of 163,418 others, representing 10.21 per cent had a few of their subjects still being processed, due to some issues that are still being resolved.

He, however, noted that efforts were being made to speedily complete the processing, to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released within the next one week.

Areghan said further statistics of candidates’ performance at the examination showed that 1,409, 529, representing 88.04 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects, that is, with or without English Language and/or Mathematics.

According to him, 1,222,505 others, representing 76. 36 per cent who sat for the examination, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

He noted that there was a 5.34 per cent decrease in performance, when compared to the 81.70 per cent obtained by candidates in the same category in 2021, in the same examination.

The HNO added that the council’s Digital Security Printing press was set for commissioning.

According to him, the digital security printing press, which is the first of its kind by the council in Nigeria, is in response to its growing operational needs.

Areghan further expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Education, security agencies, and other stakeholders for giving maximum support to the council.

He said they gave this before, during, and after the conduct of the examination, especially in the face of the insecurity in parts of the country.

The HNO appealed to states that were owing the council registration fees of their candidates to pay up.

This, he said, would enable such candidates to be able to access their results.

The conduct of the WASSCE for school candidates ended on June 3.

The examination council released the results exactly 45 days after the last paper.

The Star