Candidates from both public and private schools who have registered for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2022 will simultaneously begin and end their examinations on October 17, 2022.
In a statement announcing the exam date, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) stated that this will be the first time that candidates from both schools and private institutions will take the tests simultaneously.
The Council cited the “consistently low entries for the BECE for Private Candidates over the years” as the reason for this.
The exams for school candidates will be given to 552,276 candidates from 18,501 schools nationwide at 2,023 centers, while the exams for private candidates will be given to 1,132 candidates at 15 selected centers.
276,988 of the candidates for school are men, while 275,288 are women.There are 634 men and 498 women among the private candidates.
The total number of school candidates, according to the Council, is 3.48 percent lower than the 572,167 in 2021.
The number is 6.09 percent higher than the 1,067 seen last year for private candidates.
WAEC claims that every necessary step has been taken to guarantee a successful examination.
In a statement released on Thursday, WAEC stated, “The Council is advising candidates to be focused and be on the alert for the activities of “examination social media racketeers” whose primary aim is to make money through deception.”
Candidates were also warned by the Council not to engage in any improper behavior, such as conspiring or bringing in mobile phones or other foreign materials into the examination room.
“Candidates are reminded that during marking, collusion can be found in their scripts, and that the penalties for exam malpractice include the cancellation of the subject or entire results.”
In the interim, the Council has urged all exam administrators (supervisors, inspectors, distributors, etc.)to abide by the rules and regulations governing the examination and to refrain from facilitating malpractice.
Additionally, WAEC wished each candidate success on the exam.