By Ghana News 
The West African Examinations Council has firmly defended its decision to bar over 150 high school finalists from an essential elective test.
The examination body confirmed that exactly 154 candidates from Sekondi College will not receive a special makeup paper after missing their Chemistry theory and objective exams. WAEC officials clarified that existing examination regulations strictly forbid students from entering the examination hall once the official testing period begins.
The firm decision follows intense pressure from the Sekondi College Parent-Teacher Association, which pleaded for leniency. The PTA argued that heavy rainfall and severe local flooding caused the massive delay, leading an external invigilator to turn the students away at the door. However, WAEC Head of Public Affairs John Kapi revealed that preliminary investigations tell a completely different story.
Internal logistics reports indicate that the affected students were already physically present on campus during the storm. Investigators discovered that the late candidates were scattered across the school ICT laboratory, individual classrooms, and residential dormitories instead of making their way to the testing center. Meanwhile, their disciplined classmates had already entered the hall on time and were actively writing the paper.
Because these national standardized exams run simultaneously across five West African countries, relaxing rules for one school would compromise the security of the entire network. Consequently, the council announced that the students must wait until the next private registration cycle, commonly known as Nov-Dec, to rectify their grades.
Hoping that an international examination board will pause a sub-regional test because a student is chilling in a dormitory during a rainstorm is a major logical error. While missing a foundational elective exam like Chemistry is an absolute nightmare for any parent, rules cannot bend for poor time management.
True academic accountability relies on uniform enforcement, ensuring that a certificate retains its global value. The affected youth must now look past the shock, utilize the upcoming private test windows, and understand that in the real world, showing up late carries permanent consequences.
Also Read: Devastated Sekondi College Finalists Face Academic Trauma Over Missed Exam
Source: More on Education