Accra: The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed claims that candidates from private schools were treated unfairly in the marking of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). WAEC emphasized that its marking process is impartial, ensuring that examiners do not have access to candidates' identities or school affiliations.
According to Ghana Web, the response from WAEC comes after the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) raised concerns about alleged discrepancies in the BECE results. GNAPS has called for an audit of the results, suggesting that some candidates were adversely affected.
WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, clarified that the marking of scripts is done using only centre numbers and candidate ranges. "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," Kapi stated.
He emphasized that all candidates are evaluated using the same marking schemes and standards, regardless of their school affiliation. Despite calls from GNAPS for an investigation, Kapi assured that the integrity of the examination process is maintained by keeping candidates' identities anonymous during assessment.
Kapi's comments follow reports from GNAPS indicating alleged inconsistencies in the 2026 BECE results, with some candidates reportedly receiving grades that did not reflect their academic performance or being assigned grades in unregistered subjects.