422,883 candidates to write Ghana version of WASSCE

A total of 422,883 final year Senior High School (SHS) students will participate in the 2022 edition of the Ghana version of WASSCE for Candidates, the Head of the National Office of WAEC, Wendy Enyonam Addy-Lamptey has disclosed.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic newspaper, she said more than 422,000 prospective students from various 977 Senior High Schools across the registered for the WASSCE School after the extended closing date of April 8, 2022.

“The entry figure included 72 candidates with visual impairment, made up of 39 males and 33 females, as well as 14 candidates with hearing impairment,” the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) official told the newspaper.

Commenting on measures put in place for this year’s examination, Mrs Wendy Addy said the management of the Exams Council will administer a Ghana version of the WASSCE for candidates in the country in August/September.

This she said is because the other four-member countries of WAEC — Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia — have returned to the May/June calendar and had administered the WASSCE for their candidates from May 9 to June 24.

“The four countries have had their academic calendars streamlined to enable them to write the examination in May/June, as Ghana sticks to the ‘new normal’ calendar occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,” Addy stated.

Notwithstanding the late sitting, the not-for-profit-making organization (WAEC) staff said Ghanaian candidates will still compete for the National Distinction Award and the WAEC Excellence Award with candidates from those countries.

“Our candidates will still compete for the National Distinction Award and the WAEC Excellence Award, which is normally competed for by all candidates in the five-member countries,” the Head of WAEC told the Daily Graphic.

Asked how the Ghana WASSCE questions will be set, Wendy noted that the questions would certainly be of the same difficulty level and gave an assurance that “all post-examination arrangements will be handled internationally.

“For example, the Standard Fixing and Grading Awards meetings will have representatives from the five member countries (Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia),” Madam Wendy Enyonam Addy-Lamptey explained.

According to her, 60 subjects, comprising four core and 56 electives, would be administered to prospective candidates preparing to write the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School from August 1, 2022.

“In addition to the four core subjects that all candidates write, candidates have the option to select up to a maximum of four elective subjects from the seven programmes offered in senior high schools,” Mrs Lamptey further explained.