The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, has rejected suggestions that candidates from private schools may have been disadvantaged in the marking of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
According to WAEC, examiners do not know the origin of the scripts they assess.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, John Kapi explained, “We examine all of them the same way.
If you were to bring scripts and tell me that these are from school A or school B, I’ll not be able to identify unless I go back to the database and check which school centre number this is or that”.
Mr Kapi maintained that the integrity of the marking process remains intact as examiners do not work with school identities, only with coded scripts.
WAEC Head of Public Affairs reiterated that the Council applies the same assessment standards to every candidate.
He further urged schools and parents raising concerns over the 2026 BECE results to provide evidence to support their claims.
Mr Kapi stated, “In the first place, when you talk about correcting issues, we need to have those issues raised.
Somebody will say they got a grade for a subject that they did not register. I wonder how that can happen. Unless we see the evidence, it’ll be difficult for us to just speak in a vacuum”, he stated.
“Out of 620,000 candidates, where do you start from and where do you stop? Whom do you write to and whom do you not write to?” he asked.
WAEC comments come after the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) claimed it had received reports from member schools alleging inconsistencies in this year’s results,
According to GNAPS, grades that do not reflect candidates’ academic performance and subjects that candidates allegedly did not register for.
The Council further called on WAEC to investigate the concerns and reconcile any affected results.
In other news, Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), has alleged that some BECE candidates put money inside their examination scripts in an attempt to influence examiners when marking their scripts.
The EduWatch Executive Director disclosed that the move is one of various methods used by some candidates in the hope of gaining favour from examiners.
According to Kofi Asare, such attempts can only succeed if an examiner compromises professional standards.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, August 4, Kofi Asare stated, In some instances, candidates put money in the examination scripts. They put money in the script for whoever is going to mark it”.
The development follows the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) releasing the provisional results of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School Candidates.
620,243 candidates sat for the 2026 BECE, comprising 304,415 males and 315,828 females, sat for this year’s examination. The candidates were drawn from 20,789 schools and wrote the examination at 2,237 centres nationwide.
They further disclosed that 3,601 registered candidates were absent from the examination.
The examination body also announced that following investigations into examination malpractice, it has cancelled the subject results of 496 candidates and the entire results of 105 candidates.
The subject results of 119 candidates and the entire results of 48 candidates have also been withheld.
On Wednesday, July 29, WAEC, in a statement, announced that the results have been dispatched to schools through Metropolitan, Municipal and District Directors of Education. Candidates.
They also disclosed that the results can be checked online via the Council’s official results portal.
“The results are also available on the Council’s official website at www.waecgh.org for candidates who so desire to access them online” WAEC said.
“Candidates whose results have been cancelled or withheld should visit https://irreg.waecgh.org. and click on the withheld/cancelled button on the home page,” the statement added.
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@ghnow_ H. E John Mahama on the drum during his Jamaica tour #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
