WASSCE: WAEC Reverts To May/June Period, NIN Not Compulsory For Examination

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has confirmed that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), 2022, for school candidates, has been reverted to the May/June period.

This is as the examination is expected to take place between May 16 and June 23, in Nigeria, spanning a period of 6 weeks.

The development is coming against the backdrop of the timetable for the examination in the last 2 years which was badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

This was made known on Monday by the Head of Nigeria Office, WAEC, Patrick Areghan, at a press briefing, where he said that the conduct of the examination should be celebrated.

What the Head of WAEC Nigeria Office is saying

• Areghan in his statement said, “Gentlemen of the Media, I am delighted to inform you that the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2022 will take place between May 16 and June 23 2022 in Nigeria, spanning a period of six (06) weeks.
• “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. We must give kudos to the Honourable Minister of Education and his Ministry for this wonderful feat.”
• He explained that the final International Timetable for the conduct of the examination had been sent to all schools for their proper and necessary guidance, adding that a total of 1,607,975 candidates from 20,221 schools had registered for the examination.

NIN not compulsory for registration

Areghan noted 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.

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

“Gentlemen of the media, we are set for the conduct of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2022 in Nigeria. We are working hand-in-hand with the Federal Ministry of Education, the various State Ministries of Education, the Nigeria Police Force, other security agencies and other stakeholders, to deliver, as usual, a credible examination to the Nigerian Child and the general public.”

What you should know

• Recall that the WAEC examination (WASSCE) was moved from the regular period of May/June to August/September due to the outbreak of the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic which led to a lockdown and restriction of movement.
• A similar scenario played out in 2020 when the examination was postponed due the Covid-19 pandemic.