West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Monday announced it has released the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results, of which 81 percent of the students that sat for the exam obtained at least five credit passes including English language and Mathematics.
Mr. Patrick Areghan, the Head of National Office, WAEC disclosed on Monday.
Breaking down the numbers, Mr. Areghan said a total of 1,573,849 candidates registered for the examination from 19,425 recognised secondary schools in the country. Out of which 1,560,261 candidates sat for the examination.
He said: “The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination shows that out of the One Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty One (1,560,261) candidates that sat the examination,
“One Million, Three Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy (1,398,370) candidates, representing 89.62%, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five (5) subjects (i.e with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics;
“One Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty-Four (1,274,784) candidates, representing 81.7%, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
“Of this number, Six Hundred and Thirty Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty-Eight (630,138) i.e. 49.43% were male candidates, while Six Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty-Six (644,646) i.e. 50.57% were female candidates.
“The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2020, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, was 65.24%. Thus, there is an appreciable 16.46% improvement in performance in this regard.
“The results of One Hundred and Seventy Thousand, One Hundred and Forty-Six (170,146) candidates, representing 10.9% of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice.
“Of great worry here is the activities of rogue-website operators and some other social media platforms, who post-examination questions online immediately after the commencement of the paper being administered.
“The increasing use of cell phones in the examination hall, in spite of the existing ban, and organized cheating in some schools, are other big concerns. All 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 said.
