Education

WAEC denies change of grading system for BECE amid new curriculum

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The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says despite the changes to the curriculum at the Junior High School (JHS), there has been no adjustment to the grading system used for the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

In an interview, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi said claims on social media that the West African Examination Council has introduced a new grading system for the Basic Education Certificate Examination is false.

The spokesman said that the Stanine grading system has been utilized since the inception of the BECE in 1990 clarifying that the Examinations Council has not released any data regarding student pass rates or failures.

Mr. Kapi also said the Stanine grading system used for the national examination (BECE for School and Private Candidates) does not allow for the comparison of prospective students’ performance across different years.

Urging the members of the general public to ignore such misinformation, he reassured that any modifications to the grading system would have involved thorough discussions with stakeholders and an official announcement.

The Public Relations Officer of WAEC emphasized that it is misleading for some individuals to share statistics claiming to be from WAEC, as these figures are not officially endorsed by the organization.

Meanwhile, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) last year held a forum to discuss and explain the fundamentals of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grading system in Accra.

The forum was held to introduce the BECE marking scheme to the public and to disabuse the minds of the public that WAEC has separate marking schemes for public and private schools.

The forum was held after a recent rejoinder issued by the WAEC office to an article that alleged that the Council is using two different marking schemes, one for private schools and the other for public schools.

Speaking at the forum, a WAEC official said “having a grade 9 is not an indication that the student has failed but rather specifies their potential”.