WAEC to begin 2022 WASSCE on May 16

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has fixed May 16 for the commencement of this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Patrick Areghan, the head of WAEC Nigeria national office, during a briefing on Monday, said the examination would end on June 23, 2022.

Areghan said WAEC reverted to its former calendar — which was last adopted two years ago — after it “found a common ground in respect of their academic calendars with various member States, save Ghana”.

“I am delighted to inform you that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, will take place between the 16th of May and 23rd of June, 2022 in Nigeria, spanning a period of six (6) weeks,” he said.

“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.”

Areghan also urged students to study hard and shun examination malpractice.

“I call on parents and guardians to admonish their wards to study hard and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractice.  The mass media must play its watch-dog role,” he said.

It is understood that a total of 1,607,975 candidates from 20,221 schools registered for this year’s examination.

Areghan also disclosed that although the National Identification Number (NIN) is part of the registration process, it was not made compulsory in order not to disqualify many candidates.

“Even though NIN was made a component of the registration process, it was not a compulsory requirement in order not to disqualify many candidates,” he said.

“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.”