2026 BECE: WAEC Breaks Silence on Alleged Grading Bias Against Private School Candidates
- WAEC's Head of Public Affairs responded to allegations from GNACOPS that private school candidates were treated unfairly in the 2026 BECE
- John Kapi said examiners mark scripts without knowing whether they belong to private or public school candidates, making institutional bias impossible
- WAEC also described reports of students receiving grades for subjects they never sat as 'strange' and urged those affected to come forward with details
PAY ATTENTION: Mark YEN.com.gh as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has pushed back against allegations that private school candidates were disadvantaged in the grading of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) had raised concerns about what it described as bias in how results were assigned to candidates from private institutions.
Source: UGC
WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, addressed those claims directly.
WAEC defends its assessment process
In a report sighted on Graphic Online, the WAEC PRO stated that the council treats all candidates equally, regardless of whether they attend public or private schools.
He said every student sits the same examination under the same syllabus and has their answers evaluated against a uniform marking scheme.
"We do not make a distinction between private schools and public schools when it comes to assessment because all of them are supposed to have studied under the same syllabus, written the same standard examination, and all of them have had their scripts marked using the same standard marking scheme," Kapi stated.
He went further to explain that the marking process itself is structured to prevent any form of institutional identification.
Examiners assess scripts without access to information that would indicate where a candidate was enrolled.
"Even for the examiners who are marking the scripts, they can't tell which one is a private school and which one is a public school," he added.
WAEC invites affected parties to submit concerns
Despite dismissing the broader bias allegations, Kapi acknowledged that legitimate grievances deserved a proper hearing.
He extended an open invitation to any candidate or institution with specific complaints to approach WAEC directly.
"If they have concerns, they should come to us. We are ready to listen to them and address those concerns," he said.
Kapi also responded to separate reports claiming that some students had received grades for examination papers they did not write.
He characterised such reports as unusual and called for those involved to provide concrete details to enable a thorough investigation.
GES introduces new SHS selection rules
YEN.com.gh previously reported that more than 620,000 BECE graduates in Ghana had been selecting their Senior High Schools under a new post-results placement policy for the first time.
The updated CSSPS guidelines had limited candidates to eight school choices, with a maximum of two Category A schools allowed for each applicant.
The CSSPS portal was scheduled to close on Friday, after which successful candidates would receive printed slips indicating their assigned schools.
Don't miss out! Get your daily dose of sports news straight to your phone. Join YEN's Sports News channel on WhatsApp now!
Source: YEN.com.gh
