The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed allegations that candidates from private schools who sat the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School Candidates were deliberately awarded poor grades, describing the claims as false, misleading and without any factual basis.
In a press statement, WAEC assured parents, guardians, school proprietors, educational authorities and the general public that its assessment and grading processes are guided by internationally accepted principles of fairness, objectivity, consistency and integrity.
The Council stressed that it does not discriminate against candidates based on whether they attend private or public schools, insisting that all examination scripts are subjected to the same marking and grading procedures.
According to WAEC, strict quality assurance measures are implemented throughout the marking process to ensure impartiality. These include the coding and packaging of scripts, swapping scripts across regions, random allocation of scripts to examiners and the use of approved standard marking schemes developed by subject experts.
The Council explained that all examiners, regardless of whether they teach in private or public schools, are trained on the approved marking schemes before the marking exercise begins.
WAEC also clarified that it uses a single grading system for all candidates—the Stanine, or Standard Nine, Grading System—which ranks candidates based on their relative performance in each subject rather than fixed percentage score ranges.
Under the system, candidates are graded on a scale of one to nine, with Grade One representing the highest level of performance and Grade Nine the lowest. The grading is determined by a candidate’s performance relative to the entire cohort of candidates who sat the examination.
The Council said the approach ensures fairness by accounting for differences in the level of difficulty of examination papers from year to year while maintaining consistent standards over time.
“A candidate’s grade is determined solely by his or her performance in relation to established grading standards and not by the type of school attended,” the statement emphasized.
WAEC warned that the circulation of unsubstantiated claims undermines public confidence in the examination system and urged members of the public to disregard misinformation suggesting that private school candidates were deliberately disadvantaged.
The Council encouraged stakeholders with concerns about examination results to use the established channels for seeking clarification instead of relying on speculation or unverified information.
Reaffirming its commitment to credibility and transparency, WAEC expressed appreciation to the Government of Ghana, the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, school authorities, parents and the general public for their continued confidence in its work.
The Council pledged to continue upholding the highest standards of professionalism, transparency and integrity in the conduct of public examinations.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
