MONROVIA: The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), on Monday, September 16, 2024, officially released the 2024 examination provisional results for students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 in Liberia.
Mr. Dale G. Gbotoe, head of National office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), in Liberia said WAEC conducted two types of examinations this year for school candidates in Liberia; the National Examinations and the International Examination.
He said this year’s public exams, for the first time, included the participation of some schools from the Guinea corridor near the Guinea-Liberia border (Ganta), where students follow the same curriculum as Liberia.
According to him, a total of 725 candidates’ results are being withheld for involvement in various types of examination malpractices.
He emphasized that, the malpractices include the use of cellphones, foreign materials, and other violations. Specifically, 534 schools’ candidates’ results are being withheld in the WASSCE for 12th graders.
He added that, in the Junior High category, results from 26 schools’ candidates are also withheld due to examination malpractices.
The WAEC Boss noted that, 3rd Graders who sat the Liberia National Assessment Test (LNAT) was administered to 28,866 third grade students, with 28,019 students sitting the exam. Out of this, 23,969 students passed, while 4,050 failed. Notably, Grand Gedeh County recorded the highest pass rate, with 95.45% of third graders passing the exam.
For the 6th-grade exam, 42,415 students sat the test, with 38,504 students passing and 3,911 failing. Impressively, the three schools operating within the Guinea corridor topped the results, achieving a pass rate of 98.5%.
Mr. Gbotoe said for 9th Grade Examination Results, a total of 44,980 students sat for the 9th-grade exams, with 41,833 passing and 3,147 failing.
WAEC reported that the overall performance was excellent, with female students slightly outperforming their male counterparts. Of the four subjects administered, students excelled the most in Social Studies. The schools in Guinea-Liberia corridor again recorded a perfect pass rate of 100% in the 9th-grade exam.
Commenting on 12th Grade WASSCE Results, the WASSCE (West African Senior School Certificate Examination), he said the overall performance of 12th graders was notably better compared to the 2018 results when the exam was first administered nationally in Liberia.
He also said nine subjects were offered, with arts students sitting for seven of these, and science students sitting for a minimum of eight.
Speaking further, he indicated that, in 2024, candidates recorded a pass rate of 60% and above in two subjects: Biology and Economics.
Maryland County achieved the highest overall pass rate, with 98.29% of candidates passing the WASSCE.
When requested why the names of the top-performing students and schools were not announced, the WAEC head clarified that investigations are ongoing in cases where large numbers of students from the same schools scored similar marks, raising concerns about potential irregularities.
