The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed allegations that it discriminated against candidates from private schools in the release of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
WAEC insists that its assessment process was fair, transparent and professionally conducted.
The Council also says it is open to any independent investigation into the controversy, provided the review is undertaken by experts in examination assessment.
The release of this year’s BECE results has sparked widespread concern among parents, students and private school operators, with many questioning the grading outcomes.
The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has accused WAEC of unfairly treating candidates from private schools, claiming that the grading system disadvantaged thousands of students.
The association has petitioned the Ministry of Education and announced plans to stage a picket, demanding the establishment of an independent body to review and evaluate WAEC’s assessment and grading process.
Responding to the concerns at a press conference in Accra on August 6, WAEC rejected the allegations, describing them as baseless and unsupported by evidence.
“The Council remains firmly committed to fairness and preserving the credibility of its examinations. Every candidate is given an equal opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability, and every script is treated impartially throughout the assessment process,” Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said.
He urged the public not to give credence to claims that the Council deliberately disadvantaged candidates from private schools.
“The West African Examinations Council therefore urges members of the public to ignore claims that it deliberately disadvantaged candidates from private schools. Such allegations undermine public confidence in the examination system and are not supported by evidence,” he stated.
Mr. Kapi further encouraged stakeholders with concerns about the results to follow the official review procedures rather than rely on speculation.
“The Council encourages stakeholders who have genuine concerns regarding examination results to utilise the established channels for seeking clarification rather than relying on speculation or misinformation,” he added.
WAEC Explains Stanine Grading System
Addressing questions on the grading process, Mr. Kapi explained that WAEC uses the internationally recognised stanine grading system, which ranks candidates based on their performance within the overall examination cohort.
He noted that the system allocates grades according to a predetermined statistical distribution.
“The stanine scale ranges from one to nine. The entire population of examination candidates constitutes one cohort. Out of this cohort, the first four percent score Grade One, the next seven percent score Grade Two, the next 12 percent Grade Three, the next 17 percent Grade Four, the next 20 percent Grade Five, the next 17 percent Grade Six, the next 12 percent Grade Seven, the next seven percent Grade Eight and the last four percent Grade Nine,” he explained.
According to WAEC, the grading system reflects candidates’ relative performance and does not distinguish between students from public and private schools.
Continuous Assessment and Calls for Investigation
The press conference also addressed concerns raised by some education experts over whether continuous assessment scores were adequately considered in the computation of the final results.
While responding to calls for an independent investigation, Mr. Kapi said WAEC has no objection to a review but stressed that anyone undertaking such an exercise must possess the requisite technical expertise.
“For anyone to come here, you should also be an expert. Otherwise, I cannot tell exactly what you want to do, especially as the scripts of the candidates are confidential—even to us who are working in the Council,” he said.
Source: 3news