The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, yesterday in Lagos released November/December 2015 WASSCE results, concealing the statistical data of candidates who scored five credits in English Language and Mathematics. Announcing the results at its head office at Yaba, the new appointed Head of National Office , HNO, Nigeria, Mr Olutise Isaac Adenipekun said:”Of the 237,154 candidates that sat the examination, 79,490 candidates, representing 33.51% obtained 6 credits and above.”
He, also noted that 113,573 candidates, representing 47.88% obtained 5 credits. But declined to mention the subjects where candidates had credits pass. Adenipekun who declined to disclosed statistics of English and Mathematics, argued that releasing the statistics of candidates who had credit pass in English Language and Mathematics is not necessary because the WASSCE is for private candidates who need few subjects credited to make up their results.
Asked if he is aware that many institutions accept a single five credits result including English and Mathematics, he maintained: “You cannot evaluate candidates performance based on its score in English and Mathematics.” However, in its breakdown of the 2015 WASSCE results, he said:” Of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, 79,490 candidates, representing 33.51% obtained 6 credits and above; 113,573 candidates, representing 47.88% obtained 5 credits.
” In addition, 146,253 candidates, representing 61.67% obtained credits and above in 4 subjects, while 175,718 candidates, representing 74.09% obtained credits and above in 3 subjects. A total of 200,304 candidates (84.46%) obtained credits and above in 2 subjects.” He further pointed out that of the 237,154 candidates who sat the examination, the Council recorded 124,512 male and 112,642 female candidates. This number, according to him, included 37 visually challenged candidates.
His words : ” Out of the total number of candidates that sat the examination, 235,542 candidates, representing 99.32% have their results fully processed and released. 1,612 candidates, (representing 0.68%) have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors, traceable mainly to the candidates in the course of registration or writing the examination. Such errors are being corrected by the Council to enable the affected candidates have their results.
He disclosed that the results of 28,768 candidates, representing 12.13%, are being withheld for further investigation in connection with various cases of examination malpractice. According to him, the reports of the investigations will be presented to the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC) of the Council for consideration, adding, “The Committee’s decisions will be communicated to the affected candidates in due course.”
He urged candidates to check their results Online at the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org within the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, in its quest to curb examination malpractice, Adenipekun said that the Council has begun with the November/December 2015 WASSCE, by deployment of another cutting-edge technology in the conduct of its examinations. This newly deployed technology is called “CredenceOne”.
He said: “It is the intersection of mobile communications and biometric technology. It is a mobile biometric identification and verification system, built on the Android Operating System. Using “CredenceOne” is as simple as using a mobile phone. It is used to initiate and complete the biometric verification of candidates’ fingerprints.”
The HNO explained that the device is programmed to compare the scanned fingerprint template with the initial templates captured during registration and display the candidates details to check impersonation.
“The system also takes candidates’ attendance and automatically sends the records online to the remote central server for reporting. With this innovation, we can boldly say that WAEC, Nigeria now has its biometric fingerprint identification and verification system on a mobile device.”
