The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has increased registration fees for school candidates for West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from N13,950 to N18,000, beginning from 2022.
WAEC Head of National Office (HNO), Mr Patrick Areghan, made this known while announcing the release of results of the 2021 WASSCE for school candidates on Monday, November 22, in Lagos.
Areghan said the increment was due to un-abating spiral inflation in the country, worsened devastating effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“As can be seen, in the general cost of doing business and the multiplier effect of insecurity in the country which have consequential effects on the cost of our operations, it is no longer possible to continue to provide services with the current fee of N13,950 per candidate.
“We have received approval from the appropriate quarters; with effect from the WASSCE for School Candidates 2022 to charge N18,000 per candidate.
“We are, therefore, asking all schools principals to collect N18,000 per candidate for registration.
“Any amount beyond this ceiling will not be to our consent or knowledge; and will definitely not come to the purse of the West African Examinations Council,” Areghan warned.
The WAEC boss noted that a part of the new fees would go into remunerations enhancement for the various examination functionaries; with effect from 2022 as approved by the council’s Governing Board.
Giving a breakdown of this year’s WASSCE, Areghan said a total of 1,573,849 candidates registered for the examination; from the 19,425 recognised secondary schools in the country.
Of the registered candidates, 1,560,261 actually sat for the examination; and the results of 1,256,990 candidates were fully processed and released; while 303,271 others were still being processed due to some unresolved issues.
The WAEC boss said that efforts were being made to speedily complete the processing; to enable all the affected candidates to get their results fully processed and released within the next week.
“The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates in the examination; shows that out of the 1,560,261 candidates that sat for the examination, 1,398,370, representing 89.62 per cent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects, that is, with or without English Language and/ or Mathematics.
“A total of 1,274,784 others, representing 81.7 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects; including English Language and Mathematics.
“Of this number, 630,138, that is, 49.43 per cent, are male candidates; while 644,646, that is, 50.57 per cent, are female candidates,” he said.
