Students in public schools recorded a 73.81% success rate in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) 2021 results. This is the highest success rate recorded by public schools in the last six years.
Of the 838,486 students who sat for the 2021 examination in public secondary schools, 618,858 had credit in at least five subjects, including Mathematics and 51.16% recorded in 2020. The performance of public schools in the examination has been within average, fluctuating between 48% to 57% in the last six years.
The success recorded in the 2021 examination is the highest for public schools and comfortably above average.
Ondo Govts’ N1.145 billion on School Renovation Projects is Marred By Incomplete, Substandard Implementation
Private school students’ performance also improved from its 2020 rate. Of the 721,666 students registered in private schools, 624612 recorded a credit in at least five subjects, including Mathematics and English. This is a 86.55% pass rate, an improvement over the 74.82% recorded in 2020.
The success rate of students in private schools improved considerably after the 2018 examination. 2018 saw only 33.81% of those who sat for WAEC in private schools scoring credit in five subjects (including Mathematics and English). However, the success rate jumped to 76.5% in 2019,
Public school students’ outperformed their private schools counterparts from 2016 to 2018. But the momentum changed from 2019 when the performance of students in private schools exceeded those in public schools. Overall, 71.6% of students in private schools had credits in at least five subjects, including Mathematics and English, against 54.51% of public school students in the six years.
The improvement in private schools’ performance might be connected to students opting to register with private schools at the expense of public schools. The record shows that after 2018, public school registration declined sharply, and private schools increased.
There was a decline in registration at public schools from 1,578,452 students in 2018 to 879,431 students in 2019. However, private schools recorded an increase in registration from 109,978 students in 2018 to 710,552 students in 2019. While public schools recorded a 44.04% decline in registration in 2019, private schools had a 546.09% increase in registration.
Female students performed better than male students in 2021. Out of the 1,243,470 students who got credits in a minimum of five subjects, including Mathematics and English, 40.36% are female, while 39.34 are male.
Performance by gender has seen female students overtaking their male counterparts in the last four years. Before 2018, male students recorded better performance than female students. However, having marginally overtaken the male students in 2018, they performed better than them in the subsequent years.
The total performance peaked in 2021 as 1.243,470 students out of 1,560,470 students got credit in at least five subjects, Mathematics and English inclusive. This gives a 79.7% success rate compared to the 62.04% recorded in 2020.