The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said that no candidate, invigilator or supervisor or any of its officials contracted the dreaded Corona virus during its 2020 examinations.
This was disclosed Monday by Head of the Nigeria national office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Patrick E. Areghan, at a press briefing to announce the release of its 2020 SSCE results.
According to Areghan, the examination which was earlier scheduled to commence on 6th April, 2020, could not as a result of the outbreak of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, as
nobody “wanted to take any action that could further put the life of the Nigerian Child in greater peril”.
However, after much discussions with relevant authorities, the examination finally commenced on August 17, 2020 and ended on September 12, 2020, spanning a period of only four weeks, deliberately in order to manage the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
“No candidates contracted the virus in the examination hall or dropped dead. No invigilator, supervisor, WAEC staff or any examination functionary for that matter, was infected with the virus as all the Covid-19 protocols were meticulously observed.
“We wish to extend our gratitude to all the Supervisors, Invigilators, Custodians, Examiners and other Ad-hoc personnel for their contributions towards the successful conduct of the examination and marking of scripts,” Areghan said.
Areghan said the exam body sincere appreciated its officials security agents, ANCOPS and all stakeholders for the success of the examination, and especially thanked the schools that availed the Council of the use of their facilities, despite other commitments as well as those who donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the council, following WAEC’s appeal for donations.
Giving a breakdown of the candidats’ performance, he said a total of One Million Five Hundred and Forty-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty (1,549,740) candidates registered for the examination from Nineteen Thousand One Hundred and Twenty-Nine (19,129) recognised secondary schools in Nigeria.
“Of the number that registered for the examination, One Million Five Hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand Four Hundred and Forty-Five (1,538,445) candidates sat the examination.
“The examination was also administered to candidates from some schools in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea where the Nigeria curriculum for Senior Secondary School is being used.
“Remarkably, the examination was also conducted in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, the first time since the abduction of over 200 school girls in the area by insurgents, six years ago,” the statement reads in part.”
He further said 4,280 candidates with special needs were registered for the examination. Out of this, 230 were visually challenged; 745 had impaired hearing; 2,852 had low vision; 38 were spastic cum mentally challenged, and 58 were physically challenged.
He added that of 1,538,445 candidates that sat the examination, 780,660 were male, while 757,785 female, representing 50.74 per cent and 49.26 percent, respectively.
Also, 1,456,727 candidates, representing 94.69 percent have their results fully processed and released, 81,718 candidates, representing 5.31 per cent have a few of their subjects withheld due to some errors on the part of the candidates, and of the total candidates, 86.99 percent obtained credit and above in five subjects, with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics, and 65.24 percent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.
Areghan advised candidates who sat for the examination and have fulfilled their financial obligations to the council to access their performance on the council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org, by using their Smart Identity Card.
