The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it is set for the
conduct of its newly introduced January/February West African Senior
School certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates, News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The council’s Head, National Office (HNO), Olu Adenipekun, said
this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday
in Lagos.
With the development, the first series of the examination for
private candidates would be holding in January/February, while the
second series would hold in the second half of the year
According to Mr. Adenipekun, the January/February examination,
which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, will take place in major
cities across the country this year from January 29 to February 12.
“We are fully ready to go. This examination is the first of its
kind in the country for private candidates only, and is to be
administered for now only in major cities and towns.
“The result of this examination might likely be released within
30 days, and once we are able to do that, then we will be free to go
into the main examination, which will now be the conduct of the May/June
WASSCE for school candidates.
“After this, we then also have the opportunity to prepare also
for the conduct of the second series of the WASSCE for private
candidates in August, popularly known as November/December WASSCE.
“So, in a nutshell, we are fully prepared to win over the
confidence of the general public, especially the Nigerian children, to
the fact that they have an examination body that is ready and prepared
to meet their academic needs,’’ he said.
Mr. Adenipekun said the new arrangement was to ensure that those
who are unable to pass were given the opportunity to get better prepared
and try again.
He said that efforts had also been stepped up in the area of
computer and application of hardware for the council’s operation, to
impact the activities of the organisation positively.
According to the HNO, council seeks to continually improve on its
operation in the new year in order to be able to conduct leakage-free as
well as credible examinations and release result s promptly.
The council’s Head, Test Development Division, (TDD), Frances
Iweha-Onukwu, told NAN that some 12,000 candidates had registered and
were expected to sit for the examination across the various centres in
the country.
“For the fact that such number of candidates registered for
this first series of the examination is a positive sign for the council.
“We only need more sensitisation and awareness for subsequent outings.
“I am sure that with time, more candidates will key in, and I know with time, it is going to get better,’’ she told NAN