WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023

The WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023 commenced on Monday, 31^st July, 2023 with the Visual Art Project work. The question papers for the project work were given to candidates two weeks earlier. This component of the examination will end on Friday, 18^th August, 2023. The examination will continue with the theory papers on Monday, 21^st August, 2023.

A total of 447,204 candidates, made up of 211,834 males and 235,370 females drawn from 975 schools have entered for the examination. This figure indicates an increase of 5.8% compared to the 2022 entry figure of 422,883. The examination is taking place at 834 centres across the country. A total of sixty (60) subjects, comprising four (4) core and fifty-six (56) electives were made available to prospective candidates to choose from.

BECE For School And Private Candidates, 2023

The Basic Education Certificate Examination for School and Private Candidates, 2023 will be administered from Monday, 7th to Friday 11^th August, 2023 across the country. A total number of 600,714 candidates, comprising 300,323 males and 300,391 females from 18,993 participating schools entered for the school examination. The number of candidates that registered for this year’s BECE (SC) is 8.8% higher than the 2022 entry figure of 552,276. With regard to the BECE for Private Candidates, a total entry figure of 1,743 candidates was recorded. This is made up of 889 males and 854 females. This year’s figure is 5.4% higher than the entry figure of 1,132 for 2022.

For the school and private candidates, 21 subjects, comprising five (5) Core and sixteen (16) Electives were made available to prospective candidates. In addition to the five (5) Core subjects, the school candidates were given the option of choosing four Electives to make a maximum of nine subjects.

The BECE for School Candidates will be held at 2,137 examination centres across the country, while fifteen (15) centres mainly in the regional capitals will be used for the BECE for Private candidates.

General and Advanced Business Certificate Examination

The General/Advanced Business Certificate Examinations are scheduled to take place from 21^st August to 19^th September, 2023. At the end of the registration period, a total of 324 candidates made up of 181 males and 143 females had registered for the examination. The examination will be conducted at ten centres across the country.

Pre-Examination Activities

In preparation for the conduct of the examinations, the following activities have been undertaken by the Council;

• Sensitisation of Candidates

The Office has held a number of sensitisation programmes for a cross-section of candidates for its examinations throughout the country to educate them on the rules and regulations governing the examination. For the BECE, cluster of schools were grouped by the District Directorates of Education for the exercise. In the case of WASSCE, officers from the Council visited some selected schools and interacted with the candidates. The Council also held media engagements to sensitise members of the public about the examinations.

•  Depot Inspection

All depots for the storage of confidential materials have been inspected to ensure that they meet the Council’s security requirements and where necessary works have been carried out on those that required fortification and refurbishment. Arrangements have been made with the Ghana Police Service for the provision of 24-hour guard for all storage depots in the country.

• Printing and packing of question papers

In compliance with the Council’s Security Regulations, question papers have been printed and packed. The question papers will be sent to the fortified depots in readiness for the examination.

•  Distribution of Examination Stationery Items

In readiness for the examination, stationery items including objective answer cards, answer booklets, pencils etc. have been distributed to the District Education Offices throughout the country. The items for the WASSCE will be distributed alongside the question papers on the day of the examination.

• Briefing of Supervisors/Invigilators and Other Examination Officials

Briefing sessions for BECE Supervisors and GES Officials were held from 24^th to 28^th July, 2023 throughout the country to inform examination officials of their role in ensuring the smooth conduct of the examination. Supervisors have been directed to brief invigilators for the examination at the various centres. Briefing sessions for WASSCE Supervisors commenced on Monday 31^st July and will end today, Wednesday, 2^nd August, 2023.

Briefing of WAEC BECE Depot keepers who will be in charge of the depots from where there will be daily distribution of question papers took place on Tuesday, 1^st August, 2023.  These Depot Keepers will undertake their assignments together with GES personnel not below the rank of Assistant Director.

Access Arrangements for Candidates with Special Educational Needs

The Council has made reasonable adjustments to make its examinations more accessible to candidates with special educational needs. These include:

• Brailled papers for the visually impaired
• Large print papers for candidates with low vision
• Additional time (one and half times the time allotted to other candidates) for visually-impaired and hearing-impaired candidates, candidates with Cerebral Palsy and candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Use of computers for candidates with Cerebral Palsy and candidates who are visually impaired but cannot read Braille

 Test Security Measures

A number of measures have been put in place by the Council to guarantee test security. These include:

• Collaboration with the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and other security agencies to monitor the printing of question papers;
• Working closely with a number of security agencies to track and arrest dealers and operators of rogue websites;
• Serialisation of the question papers for some subjects;
• Movement of question papers from Strong Rooms to Depots in batches;
• Creation of additional depots for BECE and WASSCE for the storage of confidential materials to ensure that the depots are located close to examination centres;
• Use of security number combination padlocks and seals for question paper bags;
• Strapping of question paper parcels
• Enhanced inspection of malpractice prone centres and surveillance of same especially where intelligence information indicate that some monies have been collected in order to offer assistance to candidates;
• Naming and shaming of schools who engage in malpractice during the conduct of the examination to serve as a deterrent to others.

Timetables

The final timetables for the conduct of the examinations are available on the Council’s Official website at www.waecgh.org. Candidates and all interested stakeholders are advised to download the timetables from the Council’s website only to ensure credibility and accuracy of information.

Rules and Regulations for the Conduct of the Examinations

•     Revised Rules

The Council wishes to remind its stakeholders and candidates that the revised Rules and Regulations for dealing with cases of Irregularity in the Council’s examinations which took effect in January 2023 will be put to use for the first time during this year’s diet of examinations. These rules apply in all the member countries. Some of the revised rules as mentioned in previous interactions are:

• Destruction of Exhibits by candidates;
• Posting of Live Questions on the Internet by candidates and examination officials;
• Refusal to grant timely access to school premises – on the first count, the school shall be warned and where another report is received on the same school, the school shall be derecognized for 2 years;
• Misconduct of examination officials at examination centres.

We wish to state that the revised rules have been sent to all participating schools and are also available on the Council’s website at www.waecgh.org.  All stakeholders are duly cautioned to take note of the above and comply accordingly.

•     Mobile Phones

We wish to stress that the Council has a strict rule on the use of mobile phones and other electronic communication devices at examination centres. Supervisors, invigilators and candidates are barred from using mobile phones while at the examination centres. Investigations from last year’s BECE revealed that some parents gave mobile phones to their wards to enable them receive help in the examination. Parents who encourage their wards to go to examination centres with mobile phones should desist from it as the consequences are dire.

• Registration of Unqualified Candidates

The Council’s attention has been drawn to some parents moving their wards in Basic Stage six, JHS 1, 2 and 3 in private schools to public schools to register for the examination. This is against both the GES and WAEC regulations. The Council is presently investigating a number of such cases and the registration of such candidates would be annulled. Parents are urged not to traumatize their wards by such actions.

Purported “WAEC Confirmed Topics”

The attention of the Council has been drawn to the circulation of some purported “WAEC Confirmed Topics” on social media. It is important for the general public to note that the Council has not confirmed any topics nor has it sanctioned any confirmed topics from or for any group or organization. The public is advised not to log on to or join any such groups or site that promotes the circulation of these “WAEC Confirmed Topics”. They should also avoid entering their mobile phone numbers on such websites

Monitoring/ Inspection of Examination Centres.

Staff of the Council, monitoring agents recruited by the Council, the NIB and other security agencies will be monitoring the examinations. The monitoring team would carry Identification Cards on them and we urge supervisors to request for these Cards if they are suspicious of any persons purporting to be monitors.

Conclusion

The Council is soliciting the collective effort of all examination officials (Supervisors, Invigilators, Distributors, etc) to ensure the smooth conduct of the examinations. Meanwhile, candidates should be wary of the activities of rogue website operators, whose primary aim is to circulate fake questions and lure candidates into subscribing to these questions thereby taking their focus off their books.

The Council wishes all candidates success in their papers and reminds them that they can pass their examination without cheating.