WAEC completes 50% of WASSCE objective answer sheets marking

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has already completed 50 per cent of the WASSCE objective answer sheets marking, the Minister in Charge of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum told journalists on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, the Education Minister said the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on December 28 or 29, 2024 will release the provisional West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School results.

“I came to apprise myself of developments in terms of the fact that they are working now through the holidays to get the results out on or before the 29th of this month. So I came and saw the workers working and currently close to 50% of the objectives have been marked,” he told journalists addressing them at a press briefing.

This comes after the not-for-profit making organization (WAEC) in the late hours of December 23, 2024, commenced the scanning of objective answer sheets for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsnight monitored by Pretertiary.com, Mr Kapi said the move follows the successful repair of some critical scanning machines after the government released GH¢25 million as part of the debt outstanding GH¢118 million owed to his outfit.

The Council Public Relations Officer noted that the technicians managed to restore functionality to three of the machines needed for the task, enabling WAEC to begin the process of scanning the WASSCE objective sheets.

“Some of the machines are not fully operational, but we’ve managed to tweak a few of them, and work will start tonight with the scanning of the objective answer cards. And we have to run slowly because they are not, you know, fully fit as it were,” he disclosed.

Kapi added “The council is working tirelessly to meet its timelines, even though staff were initially on their Christmas break. The urgency to complete the scanning and ensure results are released has led WAEC to recall some personnel to assist with the process.”

In addition to WASSCE objective answer sheets scanning, the WAEC spokesman said the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has engaged examiners to scrutinise scripts of candidates flagged for possible examination malpractice.

Despite the central government’s release of some funds to facilitate ongoing activities, the not-for-profit organization has emphasised the need for additional financial support to complete all aspects of the results processing.

Critical expenses include the repair of additional machines, payment of invigilators and supervisors, and procurement of a larger bandwidth for uploading the 2024 WASSCE for School results online.

“We’ve received assurances from the government that more funds will be released soon. However, if this doesn’t happen, we may face delays,” the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi told host of Joy FM’s Newsnight.

The West African Examinations Council on August 5, 2024, commenced the administration of the 2024 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates and ended it on Friday, September 20, 2024.

A total of 460,611 candidates made up of 212,954 boys and 247,657 girls, presented by 1,003 second-cycle schools registered for the examination. The 2024 WASSCE for School was administrated at 1,000 centres across the country.