WAEC defends barring 154 Sekondi College candidates from Chemistry exam

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has defended its decision to prevent 154 candidates of Sekondi College from writing the Chemistry theory and objective papers on June 11, 2026, insisting that examination regulations do not permit late candidates to enter the examination hall after the stipulated reporting time.

The clarification comes after the school's Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) appealed for the affected students to be granted another opportunity to sit the paper. According to the PTA, the candidates arrived late because of heavy rainfall and were denied entry by an external invigilator.

According to a report by citinewsroom.com on June 13, 2026, WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, explained that the examination is conducted simultaneously across countries in the West African sub-region, making strict adherence to examination regulations necessary to protect the integrity of the process.

He noted that preliminary reports available to WAEC suggest the affected students were already on campus before the examination and did not have to travel long distances to access the examination hall.

“The information reaching us indicates that some were at the ICT lab, some were in the classroom, some were in the dormitories; they didn’t have to travel any distance to get to the examination hall.

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“And mind you, there were others who were in there already and were writing, according to the report that we received. So, obviously, something may have gone wrong to make some of them not want to get into the examination hall early enough to start the exam.”

Kapi further stated that WAEC would not organise a special resit for the affected candidates, explaining that any student who wishes to take the paper again would have to register for a future examination cycle.

“They will only have a chance to rewrite in another cycle of examination. So, for example, if we are going to conduct a NOV/DEC this year, they are at liberty to register and write,” he indicated.

WAEC maintains that enforcing examination rules consistently is critical to ensuring fairness and preserving the credibility of its examinations across the sub-region.

MRA/EB

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