The West African Examination Council (WAEC) Liberia office says since government intervened to pay the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees across Liberia, it has increased the participation of candidates over the past five years.
Dale Gbotoe, the WAEC Liberia Boss, told the media that since government started paying the WASSCE fees for students, candidate participation has increased over the past years, stating that before then, 650 slots were given to each school, they never used to cover 50 percent, but now, that has increased.
It can be recalled during President George Weah’s first State of the Nation address on Monday, January 29, 2018, he declared the government will pay the WASSCE fees for all 12th graders across Liberia. And since the pronouncement in 2018, up to present, the government has remained committed to its promise.
According to him, his administration will absorb the WAEC fees for all 12th graders in both public and private schools.
WAEC boss also said that the council has withheld some candidates’ results due to collusion in the 2023 WASSCE exam, adding, “Collusion is a secret agreement or cooperation for an illegal or dishonest purpose.”
For example, he continued: “If we say bound Liberia and in bounding Liberia, one person misspells Atlantic Ocean, all the candidates in that particular testing center will have the same error.”
He further narrated that some of the temporary staff and supervisors that were involved in the said collusion have been apprehended and turned over to the relevant authorities and are currently undergoing investigation.
“And another thing we have decided to do is that students will not take their exams on their school campuses any longer, because some of those people that were temporary staffs that were monitoring the students are principals and senior officials of their schools,” he said.
