Results of 5,548 candidates who participated in the 2020 Second Series of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates have been withheld over malpractices.

Patrick Areghan, Head of National Office, West African Examinations Council, organisers of the examination, disclosed this while announcing the examination results on Monday in Lagos.

The WAEC boss also noted that of the 61, 509 candidates that sat the examination, a total of 61,111 representing 99.35 percent had their results fully processed and released.

He said the results of 398 others, representing 0.65 percent, have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors traceable to the candidates.

The cases are being investigated, and the exam body’s decision will be communicated directly to the affected candidates.

Giving a further breakdown of the results, Mr. Areghan stated that the 61,509 candidates sat the examination at 540 centres spread across the country.

According to him, the figure is a decline compared with the 66,375 entry figure for 2019 for the same examination.

 He added that the drop in the entry figure for the year under review could be attributed to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, according to him, efforts are being made to speedily complete the processing to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released subsequently.

“The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates shows that out of the 61,509 candidates that sat the examination, 31,751 of them obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English Language and or Mathematics.

“A total of 24,491 other candidates obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. Of this number, 12,040, representing 49.16 percent, are male candidates while 12,451 others representing 50.84 percent are female candidates.

“The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for private candidates, 2018 and 2019, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics, were 35.99 and 35.10 percent, respectively. Thus, there is a marginal increase of 4.72 percent in performance in this regard,” he said.

According to Mr. Areghan, the number of candidates that had five credits, including English Language and Mathematics may not necessarily be a basis for judging the level of performance in the examination.

“This is because the examination is more or less a remedial one. Some candidates may need only one or two papers, other than English Language and or Mathematics, to remedy their admission deficiencies,” he said.

Speaking further, the HNO added that a total of 101 candidates with varying degrees of special needs registered for the examination, including 39 were visually challenged, 15 have impaired hearing, 10 albinos, one spastic cum mentally challenged, and 36 physically challenged persons.

(NAN)