70% of candidates fail Nov/Dec WASSCE

Of the 246,853 candidates who sat for the
November/December 2014 West African Senior
School Certificate Examination, only 72,522
candidates, representing 29.37 per cent,
obtained credits in five subjects, including
Mathematics and English Language.
This puts the percentage of failed candidates at
70.63 per cent.
However, the Head of the Nigeria National
Office, the West African Examinations Council, Mr.
Charles Eguridu, said there was an improvement
when compared with last year’s 26.97 per cent
(amounting to 80,135 candidates) who
obtained five credits in five subjects, including
Mathematics and English Language.
Announcing the results in Lagos on Thursday,
Eguridu said there was a marked reduction in
examination malpractices.
He attributed this to recent measures, including
the introduction of biometric registration and
customised mathematical sets with inbuilt
calculators, taken to curb the scourge.
Notwithstanding efforts made to curb examination
frauds, Eguridu said WAEC withheld results of
28,817 candidates.
He said the results which represented 11.67 of
the number of candidates who wrote the
examination, were withheld for “various cases of
malpractices.”
The cases, according to him, are being
investigated with the reports of findings expected
to be presented to the National Examination
Committee for consideration.
The examination agency had withheld 38,260
results, equivalent of 12.88 per cent of the total
number of candidates who sat for the
examination in 2013 for similar reasons.
Short of the total figures are 5,691 candidates
(about 2.3 per cent) whose results, Eguridu said,
were still being processed for errors he blamed
on the candidates and cyber café operators.
He said, “Of the total number of candidates that
sat for the examination, 75,313 candidates
(30.5 per cent) obtained credits and above in
six subjects; 110,346 candidates (44. 7 per
cent) obtained credits and above in five.
“In addition, 145,036 candidates, representing
58.75 per cent, obtained credits and above in
four subjects while 177.177 candidates,
representing 71.77 per cent, obtained credits
and above in three subjects. A total of 205,090
candidates (83.08) obtained credits and
above in two subjects,” he presented.
The total number of candidates that sat for the
examination this year is 61,364 short of the
308,217 candidates that wrote it last year – a
decline of about 20 per cent.
There was also a shortfall of “blind candidates”
enrollment. The figure fell from 82 recorded the
previous year to 48. And while 17 of the
category of candidates obtained five credits in
2013, four achieved similar feat this year.