WAEC denies separate grading system for public, private schools

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has firmly denied allegations of separate grading systems for public and private schools in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). At a press briefing in Accra, Mr John K. Kapi, Head of Public Affairs at the WAEC National Office, clarified the uniformity of the marking and grading processes across all schools.

Mr Kapi emphasized that WAEC applies identical marking schemes and grading standards to candidates from both public and private institutions, assuring that assessments are based solely on individual performance. He dismissed the claims made by the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), stating that such allegations are false and lack factual basis, undermining public confidence in the examination system.

The Council maintains strict quality assurance measures, including anonymous marking procedures that involve swapping scripts, coding, and random allocation across regions. WAEC employs the Standard Nine Grading System, a statistical method for reporting candidates' performance relative to overall performance, as recommended by the Ministry of Education.

WAEC remains committed to fairness, objectivity, consistency, and integrity in its examination administration, urging stakeholders to pursue legitimate channels for addressing examination result concerns.