WAEC Reveals Reasons For Probable Underperformance of Top-Performing Pupils in Current BECE Grades

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) clarifies that the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) now employs a norm-referenced assessment model rather than a traditional criterion-referenced system. Consequently, candidates are evaluated based on their performance relative to the overall cohort rather than meeting fixed, predetermined benchmarks.

Under this competitive grading structure, an exceptionally high-performing peer group can result in lower final grades for top pupils who otherwise demonstrated strong individual mastery.

WAEC Head of Public Affairs John Kapi Speaking on Joy FM, said many parents misunderstand the grading system because they compare their children's BECE performance with results obtained in school.

"You have a class of about 40 in a private school where Kojo Mensah scores 90% all the time. Now, this is out of 40 people, and so he'll be first," he explained.

"If you look at the nine-grading system, Kojo Mensah as an individual is competing against over 620,000 other candidates who equally can make the 90% or even a 95%." He stressed.

These are the new grading criteria being introduced by WAEC to grade this year's BECE candidates. What is your take on this?