President Akufo-Addo with some SHS students
Provisional results of the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) show that the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free SHS performed well.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, said the release of the results followed the completion of all post-examination processes.
The provisional results indicated that there were improvements in the performance of candidates at Grades A1 to C6 in English Language and Mathematics (Core) in 2020 as compared to 2019.
On the other hand, Integrated Science and Social Studies recorded a decline in the performance of candidates at Grades A1 to C6 in 2020 as compared to 2019.
Basic Statistics
The statistics released by WAEC indicated a total of 375,763 candidates from 976 schools entered for the examination, which was 8.6 per cent higher than the 2019 candidature of 346,098.
The 2020 entry figure was made up of 187,581 (49.9%) males and 188,182 (50.1%) females and a total of 3,343 (0.89%) of the candidates who registered were absent from the examination.
Exams Malpractice
According to WAEC, the subject results of 2,383 candidates were cancelled for engaging in collusion, bringing foreign material to the examination hall and tearing part of their question papers to solicit assistance.
It said the entire results of 480 candidates had been cancelled for bringing mobile phones to the examination hall, adding that the entire results of 384 candidates had been withheld pending the conclusion of investigations into various cases of examination malpractices detected during and after the conduct of the examination.
The exams body also said scripts of candidates from 122 schools in certain subjects were undergoing scrutiny, and added that the withheld results of candidates might be cancelled or released based on the outcome of the investigations.
Checking Results
WAEC explained in the statement that the results of the candidates would be dispatched to their schools and candidates had therefore been advised to contact their heads of school for their results.
Meanwhile, WAEC has hosted the results online and candidates who so desire, may access their results at the Council’s website – www.waecgh.org.
“The Council hereby cautions all stakeholders, especially candidates, to be ware of fake results websites and the activities of fraudsters who promise to upgrade results for a fee.
”Candidates are to note that all WAEC results are secured and can be authenticated. Institutions are therefore urged to always verify results presented to them to expose incidents of forgery,” it added.
The statement concluded that the “Council is especially appreciative to the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, the security agencies, supervisors, invigilators, Ministry of Health and examiners for their support and cooperation before, during and after the conduct of the examination amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu