WAEC withholds 215,149 results over malpractices

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says it has withheld the results of 215,149 school candidates representing 13.98 per cent of the entire students over reported cases of examination malpractices.

Patrick Areghan, the Head of the Nigeria national office of (WAEC) made this known during a press briefing held to announce the release of results of the 2020 school candidates on Monday in Yaba, Lagos state.

“The results of two hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and forty-nine (215,149) candidates, representing 13.98 per cent of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, are being withheld in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice,” said Areghan.

He added that the reported cases are being investigated while the reports of the investigations would be presented to the appropriate committee of the council for determination in due course.

According to Areghan, 1,538,445 candidates sat for the 2020 examination across 19,129 recognised schools in Nigeria.

He added that one million three hundred and thirty-eight thousand three hundred and forty-eight (1,338,348) candidates, representing 86.99 percent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects.

Areghan further stated that one million three thousand six hundred and sixty-eight (1,003,668) candidates, representing 65.24 percent, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English language and Mathematics.

Areghan noted that 497,139 representing 49.53 percent of the population were male students while 506,529 representing 50.47 per cent were female.

For candidates with special needs, Areghan said a total of four thousand two hundred and eighty (4,280) candidates with varying degrees of special needs were registered for the examination.

“Out of this number, two hundred and thirty (230) were visually challenged, seven hundred and forty-five (745) had impaired hearing; two thousand eight hundred and fifty-two (2,852) had a low vision; thirty-eight (38) were spastic cum mentally challenged, and fifty-eight (58) were physically challenged,” Areghan stated.

He said the examination was also conducted in Chibok local government area of Borno state, for the first time in six years since the abduction of over 276 schoolgirls in the area by insurgents.