WAEC Exams Begin May 16 As 1.6 Million Students Register

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said that its 2022 examination will be held between May 16 and June 23, 2022.

This means that WAEC has reverted the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to the May/June period of examination across West Africa after it was initially disrupted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

WAEC’s Head in Nigeria, Patrick Areghan, revealed this at a press briefing held on Monday.

Areghan added that the return to the May/June period was cause for celebration.

“Gentlemen of the Media, I am delighted to inform you that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2022 will take place between May 16 and June 23 2022 in Nigeria, spanning a period of six weeks.

“The revert to May/June period for the conduct of the examination should be celebrated. The significance of this is that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the various member States, save Ghana, have now again found a common ground in respect of their academic calendars.

“This shows a massive recovery from the devastating effects, disruptions, and confusion caused by the pandemic,” he said.

Areghan revealed that a total 1,607,975 candidates from 20,221 schools had registered for the examination, adding that having a National Identification Number is not a compulsory prerequisite for students to be able to register for the examinations, as they could always upload their NIN after completing the registration exercise.

“Even though NIN was made a component of the registration process, it was not a compulsory requirement in order not to disqualify many candidates. Even after the registration exercise, candidates were, and are still being, allowed to submit their NIN for upload. I, therefore, want to make it categorically clear that no candidate was denied registration as a result of non-submission of NIN.

“Gentlemen of the media, we are set for the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022 in Nigeria. We are working hand-in-hand with the Federal Ministry of Education, the various State Ministries of Education, the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies and other stakeholders, to deliver, as usual, a credible examination to the Nigerian Child and the general public,” he said.

Areghan concluded by warning fraudulent websites from carrying out their activities during the examination period as well as parents of candidates from patronising any of them.

“We also want to sound a note of warning to all operators of rouge-websites that WAEC will not condone their heinous acts during the conduct of this examination.

“Parents are hereby warned to desist from patronising these evil-doers who are hell-bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC. They should not patronise them as that would only lead to the destruction of their children’s destiny.

“Meanwhile, we shall, as usual, work hand-in-hand with the Nigeria Police to bring perpetrators to book. There will be no hiding place for them. Perpetrators will surely face the full wrath of the law,” he said.