WAEC begins probe into 2023 withheld WASSCE for Private results

Investigations into withheld WASSCE for Private results of 289 candidates who sat for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination for Private have commenced, an official of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said.

A spokesman for the Council, John Kapi in a discussion with JoyNews said the candidates were alleged to have been involved in various cases of examination malpractices including impersonation, bringing foreign materials (mobile phones) into the examination hall and seeking external assistance, among others.

“There were issues of collusion where we saw people exchange papers and it was obvious that they had written the same thing

We had also cases of impersonation, probably if somebody registered but wasn’t sure that they were capable of writing so they hired somebody to come in and write for them and in the course of it, we were able to apprehend some of them

There were others who had some foreign material on them, prepared notes, some pamphlets, others came in with mobile phones and others would come in and the cost of the paper would go outside, pick up some material and come in, ostensibly to try and see if they can get any assistance or whatever material they are bringing in,” he said. 

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of WAEC stated that the withheld results will be placed in various categories, emphasising that each category has its repercussions either to cancel the entire results or cancel the subject results.

“With foreign material, once you are found with that one, you write a statement and then we staple the foreign material to your statement. So when it is time, we pick up your script and compare what we have on that foreign material to what you have in your answer booklet.

Obviously, if there are similarities, it means that yes, you gained an advantage by bringing in something from outside and then we go ahead and take whatever action that we need to take,” John Kapi told the Accra-based media.

Asked if there is any chance for the Examinations Council to cancel the subject or overall results, Mr Kapi said “For impersonation cases, we will cancel and then we bar the candidate for a number of years, a maximum of three years.

A total of 17,389 males and 20,725 females WAEC in a blog post sighted by Thisterm.com said sat for the examination. The total figure it indicated includes 16 visually impaired candidates adding that a total of 1,231 candidates who registered for the examination were absent.