The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it applies the same marking schemes and grading systems to candidates in public and private schools who sit the Basic Education Ce
The report indicates that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it applies the same marking schemes and grading systems to candidates in public and private schools who sit the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
It further notes that the Council stated candidates were assessed under uniform procedures, with grades determined by individual performance and established grading standards.
Mr John K. Kapi, Head of Public Affairs at the WAEC National Office, stated this at a press briefing in Accra on Thursday in response to concerns raised by the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) over the 2026 BECE results.
“The Council does not operate different marking schemes or grading systems for public and private schools. This misconception has been addressed repeatedly by the council over the years,” he said.
Mr Kapi stated “everyone is given an equal opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability, and every script is treated impartially throughout the assessment process.”
GNACOPS had raised concerns over the results, alleging that private schools were deliberately awarded poor grades.
Mr Kapi described the allegation as “false, and misleading, and have no factual basis.”
He urged the public to disregard claims that WAEC deliberately disadvantaged candidates from private schools.
“Such allegations undermine public confidence in the examination system and are not supported by evidence,” he said.
Mr Kapi stated WAEC’s assessment and grading processes were guided by internationally accepted principles of fairness, objectivity, consistency and integrity.
“Under no circumstances does WAEC discriminate against candidates on the basis of whether they attended private or public schools.”
Mr Kapi stated the Council maintained strict quality assurance procedures throughout the marking process, including measures to ensure the anonymity of examiners and candidates.
“we ensure there is anonymity between the examiners and the scripts they mark. This is done by swapping the scripts of candidates across regions, coding and packaging of scripts, and random allocation of scripts to examiners among others,” he said.
Mr Kapi stated scripts were marked using approved standard marking schemes developed by subject experts, which examiners were required to study before the marking exercise.
