ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Encomiums have continued to pour in for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) after it proactively resolved the technical glitches on its results portal on Friday.

The downtime occurred shortly after the official release of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on Monday, August 4, 2025.

The timely intervention by the Council within the shortest possible time, coupled with proactive information dissemination during the challenging moment, was described by Nigerians as impressive.

According to Nigerian parents, civil right groups, students, media and other critical collaborators in the education sector value chain, WAEC’s handling of the critical moment underscored its professionalism, transparency, accountability and fidelity to its stakeholders.

The consensus was that it validated the exams body’s capability in efficient and effective digital interactions that ramify WAEC’s operations and the credibility and integrity of its examination processes.

A big relief came at a press conference by the council on Friday, August 8, by its Head of National office, Dr. Amos Dangut, it announced the release of fresh and revised results of candidates who sat the 2025 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), calling them the “authentic results of candidates”.

The council further added that candidates could now apply for their digital certificate, which would be released forty-eight hours after the Friday briefing.

“Gentlemen of the media, as the reviewed results of the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2025 are being uploaded on the results website, candidates should after checking the result online, apply for their Digital certificate which will be released forty-eight (48) hours thereafter.

“Candidates who have fulfilled their financial obligations to the Council can access their results on the Council’s results website: www.waecdirect.org, within the next twelve hours. Copies of the new Result Listing will be sent to schools shortly,” the Council said.

WAEC’s image maker, Moyosola Adesina, had earlier on Wednesday informed the mainstream and online media about the technical downtime through the Council’s official social media platforms.

The council on Thursday released a comprehensive statement to further clarify the situation and properly guide all stakeholders, especially the candidates who sat the examination.

The statement emphasised the need to curb examination malpractice, noting that the Council had embarked on an innovation (paper serialization) already deployed by a national examination body, adding that the initiative was in line with best practice in assessment.

The paper serialization, according to WAEC, was carried out in Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics.

The statement reads in part, “However, an internal post result release procedure revealed some technical bugs in the results.

“The Council, being a responsive body that is sensitive to fairness and professionalism, has decided to urgently review and correct the technical glitches that led to the situation, as a result, access to the WASSCE (SC) 2025 results has been temporarily denied on the result checker portal.

“We extend our deep and sincere apologies to all affected candidates and the general public. We appreciate their patience and understanding as we work diligently to resolve this matter with transparency and urgency within the next twenty-four (24) hours. On this note, candidates who have previously checked their results are advised to re-check after 24 hours from now,”

Curious about this development, its importance as well as its effect on the academic pursuits of candidates who are presently preparing for their advanced learning, an independent survey was conducted by Veracity Desk (veracitydesk.com) to get feelers from a few stakeholders before the downtime was resolved.

The outcome of the vox pop practically showed how concerned Nigerians described the Council’s action as “most dependable step in crisis management, perception management and ultimately protection of the sanctity of the examination results”.

Among other things, respondents outlined WAEC’s sense of dignity, openness, ability to own up to the challenge and take responsibility, and as well champion what can be regarded to as a good score card for education reform in Nigeria. Respondents also described the prompt intervention as a major achievement for the council’s current management team, which, according to them (respondents), should be emulated by other examination bodies.

One of the candidates’ parent, Pastor Temitayo Olowookere, a perfume merchant at the Trade Fair Complex on Lagos Badagry Expressway stated, “I have a child, cousins, nieces and nephews that I paid for their WAEC fees, and when the release of the results was announced on Monday, we were all happy and eager to check the results, but we later got the information on time that the portal has been temporarily shut down.

“This timely information really helped us. It saved us from wasting time and resources on the internet. We are happy now that the portal is back and running smoothly; the downtime will be finally over. This proactiveness with continuous and timely explanations is highly commendable. WAEC has displayed the most dependable step in crisis and perception management, and ultimately protection of the sanctity of the examination results”.

Similarly, Comrade Ibrahim Isa who identified himself as a member of Civil Society group in Jalingo, Taraba State, namely Action for “Girl Child Education” said, “What WAEC did this week positively reflects the prestige and glowing records they’ve built over the years. This is a new reform in our education sector whereby integrity and accountability can no longer be compromised in the educational sector. Technical glitch isn’t a problem. It happened in the banking sector, too, especially during their system upgrade, which lasted for months. But how to manage glitches on time is what matters, and also how you communicate to those who are directly or indirectly affected matters most.

“WAEC has set a very good standard by validating its crisis response capability through information management and management of stakeholders perception, despite the backlash this may attract from some people who could be impatient or who could possibly feel disappointed.”

Amarachi Mariam Nnamdi, a candidate who sat the May/June exams in Abuja on her part, said, “My uncle told me on Monday he would help me to check my results on Tuesday in his office but subsequently called me during his lunch time that it seems there were too many subscribers on the portal and that could have possibly made it impossible for him to log in on Tuesday to check the results.

“But on Wednesday, he later called to say he read online that the WAEC results checker portal was temporarily down. This helped us to stop making any further attempts to log in. He said I should wait until the weekend. WAEC did well by informing us about the glitches. Initially, I was angry, but later, I praised them for telling us the truth behind the glitches and giving us some time on when it would be resolved. They are genuinely proactive from what we saw this week.”

Another candidate, Oghenetega Tadafe, who lives in Agbor but was in Lagos Friday evening, said: “I was very angry with WAEC, but later, when I saw their explanations and apology, I had no choice but to overlook the flaws. Besides, my dad told me WAEC cannot be blamed at all, that such glitches happen everywhere in the world, even in the UK and the US. I think we should give them time and even applaud them for their openness and transparency. Other examination bodies should also emulate this high sense of responsibility.”