BY FRANCIS EZEM

Mixed reactions have trailed the release of the results of West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, Wednesday, in Lagos by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC in which 49.98 per cent of the candidates obtained five credit pass in English Language and Mathematics.

Head of Nigeria Office HNO, Mr. Olu Adenipekun, speaking at the WAEC national office in Lagos, said: “786,016 candidates representing 49.98 per cent obtained credits and above in minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics”.

He said that in 2016, a total of 52.97 per cent of candidates had five credits and above in English Language and Mathematics while in 2017, it was 59.22 per cent.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have expressed worries over the poor performance for the 2018 WASCE results compared to the two previous years, 2016 and 2017, which they blamed on the continued falling standard of education.

These stakeholders therefore tasked the relevant authorities in the country to check this ugly development with a view to addressing it.

The Head of Nigeria Office however admitted that there were cases of examination malpractices, but declined to give the statistics, noting that it was minimal. He said: “A total of 1,578,846 candidates registered for the examination from 17,886 recognised secondary schools in Nigeria”. He added that out of the registered candidates, 1,572,396 candidates sat the examination.

According to him, out of the total number of candidates that sat for examination in Nigeria, 1,470,338 candidates, representing 93.51% have their results fully processed and released. While 102,058 candidates representing 6.49% have a few of their subjects still being processed due to errors traceable to the candidates in the course of registration or writing the examination.

“Such errors are being corrected by the Council to enable the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released subsequently, he said.

In the breakdown of the results, the HNO said: “1,213,244 candidates representing 76.84% obtained credits and above in a minimum of any five subjects (I. e with or without English Language and Mathematics.

“858,424 candidates representing 54.59% obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language but without Mathematics.

“786,016 candidates representing 49.98% obtained credits and above in minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics.

“In this category were 389,655 male and 396,361 female, representing 47.32 per cent and 52.92 per cent respectively”.