Follow Us on Google
By Chukwudi Nweje
With effect from the 2024 examination session, the certificate of those who sit for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) would be ready as soon as the examination results are released.
Head, WAEC National Office, Mr. Patrick Ehidiamen Areghan, announced this Thursday when he unveiled the Digital Certificate Platform of the examination body.
The platform also has records of all examinations results conducted by WAEC from 1999 to date, and the platform provides candidates the opportunity to view and share the digital copies of their certificates without resorting to making photocopies. The shared certificate could also be instantly confirmed and validated online.
He said, “The digital certificate platform, which is currently available to those who have taken the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) as far back as 1999 till date, will enable over 30 million certificate holders to access and share the original copies of their certificates from anywhere in the world.
“A digital certificate is the electronic version of academic or physical paper certificate. It is hosted on a dedicated credential page with options to share and embed. It presents the same information with paper certificates, but it has numerous advantages over and above paper certificates, with special focus on the elimination of fraud and easy accessibility.”
Areghan noted that the platform, which is taking off in Nigeria while the other partner West African countries – the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Lone would follow when they are ready for the technology.
He noted that the digital platform has many advantages, including the ability to recover lost examination numbers and certificates, and prevent user information from being accessed by unauthorised persons.
He further said, “The digital platform is tamper-proof and is designed in a way that it eliminates unwholesome practices of hackers and fraudsters. Whatever door that is closed on this platform would remain closed.”
Other benefits of the digital certificate platform include that users can generate and share certificates without photocopies, security of data protection, ability to share the certificate over mobile devices and authenticity.
“The Platform is compliant with global best practices by ensuring that the data of candidates are protected securely and cannot be accessed by third parties without the consent of certificate owners. The digital certificate platform gives certificate holders the power to prevent unauthorised users from accessing their data, institutions and organisations can confirm with ease the reliability and authenticity of individuals’ certificates on the digital certificate platform. This eliminates fraud and will send fakers out of the market. It has many security doors that makes it impossible to hack.
“Going digital, your original certificate is now available on demand, and the risk of loss or damage is now eliminated. Certificate owners can print their digital certificates in high quality to have a physical copy, if they so desire”
Areghan said the use of the digital platform is faster and cheaper when compared to the old method.
“You can access the digital platform by logging into the WAEC website waec.org and following the instructions.
“To access the certificate on the platform would cost you only N7,500 compared to the about N60,000 you would pay to get a replacement attestation of result because WAEC dose not issue certificate twice.
“If you want to share the certificate the cost is N3,000 and confirmation of the result would cost N5,000 and it can be done online, you don’t need to travel long distance for that,” he said.
