WAEC Rejects Claims of Bias Against Private School Candidates in 2026 BECE Marking

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has firmly dismissed claims that candidates from private schools were treated unfairly during the marking of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), insisting that its assessment process is designed to guarantee fairness and impartiality.

The Council’s response follows concerns raised by the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), which has questioned aspects of this year’s BECE results and called for an independent audit over alleged inconsistencies.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, explained that examiners have no way of identifying whether a script belongs to a student from a public or private school.

According to him, candidates’ identities and school affiliations are concealed throughout the marking process, with scripts identified only by centre numbers and candidate codes.

“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 said.

He stressed that every script is assessed using the same marking scheme and uniform standards, ensuring that no candidate receives preferential or discriminatory treatment based on the school they attended.

The clarification comes after GNAPS claimed it had received complaints from member schools across the country alleging discrepancies in this year’s BECE results. Among the concerns raised were grades that reportedly do not reflect candidates’ academic performance and instances where some students were said to have received results in subjects they allegedly did not register for.

The association has consequently called on WAEC to investigate the complaints and review any results that may have been affected.

Responding to those concerns, Mr. Kapi maintained that the Council’s marking system safeguards the integrity of the examination process by ensuring that examiners assess only coded scripts without any knowledge of the candidates’ identities or school backgrounds.

He reaffirmed WAEC’s commitment to applying the same assessment criteria to every candidate, insisting that the examination marking process remains transparent, objective and fair.

Yaw Opoku Amoako

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