WAEC to conduct 2022 WASSCE SC separately for Ghana

WAEC after four member countries of the Council reverted to the usual May/June calendar for the conduct of the 2022 WASSCE SC has said only Ghanaian candidates will write the international examination in August/September 2022.

Head of National Office – WAEC, Addy-Lamptey in an interview with the Daily Graphic newspaper said the member countries Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia conducted their WASSCE SC from May 9 to June 24, this year.

“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 pandemic in 2020,” she told Graphic.

The West African Examinations Council official noted notwithstanding the late sitting, 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,” Wendy Lamptey told the newspaper.

The Head of the Ghana National Office of WAEC explained that Ghana could not join the other four member countries in the conduct of their just-ended WASSCE for School amid the change from trimester to system academic calendar.

“The time was too short and the candidates would not have adequately prepared for the examination and so the Ministry of Education (MoE) requested that it be conducted for them in August and September 2022.

“Following that, Ghanaian candidates will write a Ghana-only version of the WASSCE for School Candidates, starting from August 1, 2022, and ending on September 27, 2022,” the non-profit-making organization (WAEC) staff stated.

Asked if the questions for Ghanaian candidates will be different, Mrs Addy said “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. A total of 422,883 candidates from 977 schools registered for the WASSCE SC,” she told the Daily Graphic.