The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the results of the 2024 April/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, revealing a 72% pass rate and over 215,000 withheld results.
Amos Dangut, WAEC’s Head of Nigeria Office, announced the results at a press briefing on Monday.
He reported that 1,301,941 candidates, representing 72.12% of those who sat for the exam, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
“This statistic represents a decrease of 7.6% in performance when compared to 2023,” Dangut stated.
Out of 1,805,216 candidates who took the examination, 896,894 were male and 908,322 were female, accounting for 49.68% and 50.32% respectively.
Dangut also noted that 215,267 candidates’ results, representing 11.92% of the total, are being withheld due to various reported cases of examination malpractice.
“This is 4.37% lower than the 16.29% recorded in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023,” he explained.
The WAEC official highlighted ongoing challenges, including the use of cell phones in examination halls despite existing bans, and organized cheating in some schools.
“The council will continue to sanction all cases of examination malpractice. Schools, supervisors, teachers, and candidates perpetrating this evil are not helping the educational system,” Dangut emphasized.
Other challenges faced during the examination included security concerns, non-adherence to registration deadlines, inflation, and activities of rogue website operators.
Dangut mentioned that the “sit-at-home” order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and industrial action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) coincided with days when major papers were scheduled.
Despite these challenges, WAEC successfully administered the examination to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea, where the Nigerian curriculum for Senior Secondary Schools is used.
The examination body also made provisions for 109,115 candidates with special needs, including visually impaired, hearing impaired, and physically challenged students.
WAEC reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the integrity of its examinations and called for collective efforts to sanitize the educational system
