The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has cancelled or withheld the results of a total of 441 candidates who sat for the 2021 edition of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) over examination malpractices.
Of the number, the subject results of 138 candidates were cancelled for either sending foreign materials into the examination hall or colluding with other candidates.
A statement issued by the Council yesterday to announce provisional results of the examination said the entire results of 46 candidates were cancelled for either sending mobile phones into the examination hall or impersonation.
Signed and issued by Rev. Victor Brew, the Head of Legal Department of WAEC, the statement said the subject results of 148 candidates and the entire results of 109 candidates had been withheld pending the conclusion of investigations into various cases of alleged examination malpractice.
“Meanwhile, the scripts of candidates from 24 schools in certain subjects are undergoing scrutiny. The withheld results of candidates may be cancelled or released based on the outcome of investigations,” it said.
According to WAEC, the decision to withhold or cancel the results of some candidates followed the conduct of investigations into cases of examination malpractice detected during the conduct of the examination.
It said the sanctions were approved at the 32nd Meeting of the Final Awards and Examiners’ Appointment Committee for the BECE held on February 22 2022.
“The Council is cautioning all stakeholders to be wary of fraudsters who promise to upgrade results for a fee. Candidates are to note that WAEC results are secured and can be authenticated,”it said.
The statement said the Council would despatch the results to the schools through the Metropolitan/Municipal/District Directors of Education, but had in the meantime, the Council has hosted the results online and candidates who desire may access their results on the WAEC website.
Giving statistics on the examination, it said a total of 572,167 candidates made up of 287,730 males and 284,437 females wrote the exams. It said 61 had visual impairment; 321 hearing impairment while 86 had special assessment needs due to other conditions.
It said the total entry figure was 7.61 per cent higher than the 2020 entry of 531,707 whereas in all 18,028 schools presented candidates for the examination, which was administered at 2,158 centres.
It said out of the total number of candidates who registered, 7,315 (1.28 per cent) were absent.
The Council expressed gratitude to stakeholders especially the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, the security agencies, supervisors, invigilators, examiners for their support in the successful conduct of the examination and release of results.
BY TIMES REPORTER
