The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has dismissed claims that candidates from private schools were disadvantaged in the marking of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), insisting that its assessment process is designed to ensure fairness and impartiality.
The clarification follows concerns raised by the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), which has alleged discrepancies in this year’s BECE results and called for an audit of the provisional results.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, explained that examiners do not know the identities or schools of the candidates whose scripts they mark.
According to him, examination scripts are identified only by centre numbers and candidate ranges, making it impossible for examiners to determine whether a script belongs to a candidate from a public or private school.
“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 stressed that all candidates are assessed using the same marking schemes and standards, regardless of the schools they attended.
His remarks come after GNAPS said it had received complaints from member schools alleging inconsistencies in the released results, including grades that do not reflect students’ academic performance and instances where candidates were reportedly awarded grades for subjects they did not register for.
The Association has called on WAEC to investigate the reported discrepancies and reconcile any affected results.
Responding to those concerns, Mr Kapi maintained that the integrity of WAEC’s marking process remains intact because examiners assess only coded scripts without access to candidates’ identities or school affiliations.
He reiterated that the Council applies the same assessment standards to every candidate to ensure a fair and credible examination process.
