Latest news with #WAEC
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
WAEC speak on report of cancellation of 2025 exam
Di West African Examination Council (Waec) say report say dem cancel all di papers for di just concluded West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) 2025 no be true. WAEC say dem see news wia one supposed press statement wey dey fly up and down for social media dey claim say di federal ministry of education don cancel di examination sake of 'examination malpractice, leaked exam papers and unauthorised spread of exam materials.' Di WASSCE 2025 papers bin take place few months back and during dat time, some conversation about malpractice bin come up. For May 2025, students write di English Language paper 2 essay exam for di WAEC examination late into di night on Wednesday 28 May, 2025 wia parents say dem no happy wit dat kain development. Dat particular paper suppose take place for afternoon but na for late for night dem write di paper. Now, WAEC say dem no get hand for di press statemen wey dey spread for 19 July 2025 about cancelling di papers sake of exam malpractice and oda mago-mago. WAEC cancel di 2025 WASSCE paper? WAEC don come out to debunk di tori say dem no cancel di 2025 WASSCE papers wey students just write few months ago. According to di statement by Moyosola Adesina wey be di head of WAEC Public Affairs department, e say di fake press statement on di cancellation of di examination no be from dem. "We neva cancel di examination. Though we no sabi di source of dat information, di Council dey certain say di false claim dey spread from mischief-makers wey wan bring di Council into bad image." Waec say di pipo wey dey spread di fake news wan cause confusion for di candidates wey sit for di examination. Wen WAEC go release 2025 WASSCE? WAEC say dem don begin dey mark di examination scripts and don conclude am. According to dem, di 2025 WASSCE results na di next tin dem dey ready to release as dem don finish wit di marking of scripts. WAEC say WASSCE results go dey ready and dem go release am for August 2025. "As a matter of fact, we don conclude di marking of scripts of dis examination. Results go dey released on or bifor Monday 4 August 2025." Pipo wey dey mark WAEC scripts na examiners wey be sabi pipo for di education sector wey sabi classroom work well-well. WAEC go set up Committee of experts wey go come up wit marking guide, den drill all di appointed examiners well-well on all aspects of di marking scheme for one marking exercise wey dem dey call co-ordination. Na how WAEC dey pick dia examiners be dat and na dat same process dem take mark di 2025 WASSCE. Dis no be di first time wen pipo dey tok about exam malpractice for WAEC and di results. For 2023, results of 262, 803 candidates wey write di 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) dey withheld, according to wetin di council tok. WAEC say di plenty results wey dem dey hold na those of candidates wey involve for examination malpractice and oda mago-mago. Di 262, 803 results wey dem hold na out of di 1,613,733 candidates wey sidon write di 2023 exam. For may 2025, WAEC for dia statement bin apologise to students for di delay in di exams wen dem write into di night. Dem acknowledge say dem get some challenges during di conduct of WASSCE for School Candidate, 2025 wey include delay in di timely conduct of English Language Paper 2 dem write on Wednesday 28 May, 2025. Dem say dem face some challenges primarily sake of dia major aim to prevent leakage of any paper, na why di paper happun for night. Offence wey count as exam malpractice for WAEC Wetin to know about WAEC? Di West African Examination Council, na international exam for senior secondary school student wey dey happun every year. Kontris wey dey write WAEC na, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Na for 1952 dem establish am. According to information on top dia website, di vision of di West African Examinations Council na to be a world-class examining body wey dey add value to di educational goals of im stakeholders. WAEC na West Africa ogbonge examining board wey dey established by law. Dia work na to set, conduct di examinations and to award certificates wey dey comparable to dat of equivalent examining authorities internationally for di English-speaking West African kontris,.
ABC News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Reputation hit from 2021 state election caused WA Electoral Commission to outsource polling day staff recruitment, documents suggest
The WA Electoral Commission took the unprecedented step of outsourcing almost all of its election workforce recruitment, in part because it was concerned the previous state election had damaged its reputation. In reality, the 2025 poll experienced far more reported issues, including reports of long wait times at polling booths and some locations running out of ballot papers. Those problems were so great the government ordered a special inquiry to probe what went wrong and why the commission contracted labour hire company PERSOLKELLY. Documents released to the ABC under Freedom of Information laws show, for the first time, why that decision was made. The documents also highlight how the WAEC and PERSOLKELLY downplayed the scale of the outsourcing in the days following the election. It comes after the ABC revealed the chaos inside the commission in the lead-up to the state election, with one senior official saying they had warned of issues with the labour hire company as much as four months before the poll. In a procurement plan compiled in the first half of 2023, the WAEC set out its reasons for wanting to outsource its temporary election workforce. It noted an audit after the 2021 election, which found there were "some issues", including with a different labour hire company used in a limited capacity under a government-wide contract. "Service delivery expectations were not met, [temporary election workforce] staff expressed deep dissatisfaction and the WAEC's reputation and performance suffered," it reads. The plan noted the commission did "not have the internal resources available (human resources and systems) to best manage projects of this size". "The aim of this [tender] is to address the recommendations made to the WAEC … to ensure that elections are run cost effectively and to a high standard into the future," it reads. But a senior WAEC source who worked both the 2021 and 2025 elections said the earlier poll was "positively functional". "Delivery of materials was underdone, the logistical side of things," they said. WA's Shadow Electoral Affairs Minister Shane Love agreed while there were a few issues in 2021 it was "nothing like the collapse that we saw in 2025". "What I can see here is a commission just outsourcing, washing their hands and saying, not our problem. Well, it is your problem," Mr Love said. In the days after the election, as the full scale of problems came to light, both the WAEC and its contractor sought to play down the role outsourcing could have played. "There have been a number of election events where the WAEC has engaged contractors for the provision of recruitment services," a spokesperson told the ABC about a week after the election. Do you know more about this story? Contact Keane Bourke. "This is not a new or uncommon practice. Previous state and federal electoral commissions have appointed recruitment companies to provide support staff in a similar way," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said the following day. But the procurement plan shows that was not the full picture. While it noted other states have had similar issues trying to staff elections themselves, none had outsourced the entire job. "The approach of the WAEC to outsource a significant part of the requirement is new and is not currently being undertaken in any other jurisdiction," the plan reads. In a statement to the ABC, PERSOLKELLY maintained its position that the scale of outsourcing was not new or uncommon. The WA Electoral Commission said it would be inappropriate to comment until the special inquiry report was released publicly. The tender document rated the overall risk of outsourcing as "low/moderate". But it noted one of the most significant risks was "contractor unable to provide sufficient staff at relevant locations" and that potential impacts included "public unable to vote" — with some voters complaining that long delays and a shortage of ballot papers discouraged voting. The plan identified one of the controls for that risk was "the contractor has experience in an electoral process, preferably in WA", which it said would help reduce the risk from "significant" to "moderate". PERSOLKELLY said it had supported the Australian Electoral Commission to run federal elections in WA in 2013, 2017 and 2025, as well as the New South Wales state election in 2015, on top of decades of experience providing staff to all levels of government. "This includes support to government agencies, including elections, locally and nationally along with similar experience in multiple countries outside of Australia," the company said. In a statement following the election, the WAEC said PERSOLKELLY had "deployed the personnel requested … in line with the project's requirements" and that all 682 polling locations were staffed and operational. It said its role was limited to recruiting and onboarding staff. The document also indicated "appropriate funding has been confirmed by Robert Kennedy — Electoral Commissioner" to cover the estimated total value of $30 million. But government records show the value of the contract awarded was more than double that at $86.9 million. The WAEC said the initial figure "reflected all relevant information available to the Western Australian Electoral Commission at that time". "The final contract award estimate … reflects the maximum value of the contract if all extension options are exercise based on the agreed pricing structure with PERSOLKELLY Australia." An earlier version of the procurement plan, also released to the ABC, shows the commission had initially planned to offer a six-year contract for the outsourcing, which would run until after the 2029 state election. However, a Department of Finance staffer managing the tender noted that would require an "internal exemption" to go over a five-year limit. Future versions of the document refer to a four-year contract with the option of a two-year extension. The future of the contract is uncertain though, with the Acting Electoral Commissioner telling budget estimates earlier this month the contract would be reviewed after local government elections in October. "Part of that process will involve looking at what the future looks like with PERSOLKELLY," Dennis O'Reilly said. On Monday, Premier Roger Cook confirmed the contract was "addressed in the context of the report" without providing specific details. "We certainly need to make changes to ensure that the WA Electoral Commission can conduct the local government elections which will take place in October this year, but we'll table the report first and then our response," he told reporters. Questions have been raised about the commission's ability to conduct those elections after its Director of Election Operations resigned. Commissioner Robert Kennedy and Deputy Commissioner Courtney Barron are on leave. Both commissioners have been temporarily replaced by senior public servants, with staff brought in from the Australian Electoral Commission to help run local government elections. "We look forward to the outcome of the special inquiry into the planning and delivery of the 2025 WA state election, and welcome learnings that will come as a result," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said. That report is expected to be released when parliament next sits in mid-August.
ABC News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Stark warnings about election staffing in seat of Roe before polling day, documents reveal
Documents obtained by the ABC have laid bare the chaos of planning for the 2025 WA election across one of the state's biggest seats, as a wider inquiry into what went so wrong on polling day remains sealed. The problems voters across the state experienced — including reports of long queues and some places running out of ballot papers — were so serious the government ordered a special inquiry into what went wrong. Part of the probe's remit was to look at the WA Electoral Commission's (WAEC) decision to outsource its temporary election workforce to a labour hire company, PERSOLKELLY. The ABC can now reveal the commission had been warned about those issues as early as four months prior to polling day. PERSOLKELLY previously said it was responsible only for recruiting and onboarding staff, and that 100 per cent of polling places it was responsible for were open on the day. As election day loomed in the vast electorate of Roe, which stretches from just east of Collie and just north of Albany all the way east beyond Esperance, the situation was worrying staff. In early February, Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy publicly said he was still looking for 50 to 60 staff in Roe. But late on the Monday before the election, a senior official wrote directly to him, bypassing their chain of command, saying their concerns had not been taken seriously. "Without adequate, minimum staffing, the WAEC runs the risk of being unable to safely conduct an election in the District of Roe (and likely other districts experiencing similar issues)," they wrote in an email released to the ABC under Freedom of Information laws. At that stage, they said, less than a quarter of their polling places were fully staffed. "I raised the risk of staffing and what contingencies the commission had in place in December when … we had 13 applications for 80+ senior positions," they said. The opposition's spokesperson for electoral affairs said he had heard similar reports. "I think that what we've seen there is one returning officer voicing concerns that I think many others also held," Shane Love said. A senior WAEC worker told the ABC a major problem was higher-ups not listening to the concerns of returning officers — who are responsible for elections in each electorate. The person, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of breaching their contract, said they were also concerned about PERSOLKELLY's processes resulting in personal connections being lost. Do you know more about this story? Contact Keane Bourke. "The level of experience we lost was devastating," they said. Roe MP, Peter Rundle, said he had heard of previous staff having issues signing up with PERSOLKELLY in the lead-up to the election. "From my perspective, the loss of experience was probably the biggest factor," he said. "We also heard stories of people at the count … with very little experience at all. "In actual fact, some of our scrutineers had a lot more experience than the people that were counting votes." In their email, the election worker said they had brought the issue up "at least once per week" but was told: "[PERSOLKELLY] have promised us staff. We have to see if they can fulfil." "If this dismissive approach is the official line of the commission, I sadly believe it has lost its way," they wrote. The following day, Commissioner Kennedy replied saying he understood PERSOLKELLY had been finalising appointments with "one to two vacancies still being worked on". He acknowledged there had been some "pushback" from applicants about having to use an electronic application and onboarding system but said that would have been similar even if the WAEC ran its own staffing. "I fear that staffing regional districts is becoming more difficult every election as population shrinks in those districts and the traditional cohort of temporary staff we relied on ages and ceases to work for us," he added. A PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said: "Staff involved in previous elections were contacted by the WAEC and encouraged to reapply." After further discussion, the worker told the commissioner if minimum staffing levels were not met they would instruct staff to close polling booths. That prompted a terse reply from the commissioner, now two days out from the poll. "Returning Officers do not have legislative authority to close a polling place," he wrote. The reply did little to allay the worker's concerns. "We have been pulling [presiding officers] from the proverbial ledge for weeks now, wanting to quit due to uncertainty," the worker wrote before quoting from the state's Work Health and Safety Act. "It is unsafe to operate a place of business without minimum staffing. "I am personally liable for any contravention of the act and I cannot in good faith compel people to work when it is not safe. "I just need reassurances on contingencies in the likely event of last minute staff no-shows etc." When Deputy Commissioner Courtney Barron followed up that evening, she said one polling location would be closed, offered a dedicated contact person at a higher level and said hard copy forms would be provided if staff needed to be hired on election day. PERSOLKELLY did not respond when asked if any staff were hired on the day, or if those staff completed the onboarding training required by the commission before starting work. In the end, Mr Rundle comfortably won the seat on first preferences with 53.3 per cent of the vote. "As it turned out, in general terms … the returning officer actually did a reasonably good job despite the challenges that were put in front of him by the Electoral Commission," he said. WAEC results show about 86 per cent of Roe electors cast ballots — in line with the 2021 election. A week after the election, PERSOLKELLY said: "100 per cent of the 682 polling locations that required PERSOLKELLY Australia support staff were operational. The WAEC determines all the staffing requirements." The WAEC declined to answer questions about issues in Roe and the loss of experienced staff, saying the "resourcing, planning and management of polling places" formed part of the special inquiry. "It would be inappropriate to comment further until the report is released," a spokesperson said. The trove of documents released to the ABC also showed there had been warning signs of potential issues elsewhere. In mid-February, an unnamed official in the Department of Premier and Cabinet emailed Ms Barron, referring to previously raised concerns around "challenges with pre-polling centres and staff availability in the Kimberley/Pilbara", offering to help. "Numbers have actually started to improve for us," Ms Barron replied. By the day after the election, the scale of issues was seemingly becoming apparent. "From Facebook, emails and calls yesterday seems queues and issues weren't confined to just a few areas," one staffer wrote to their director. Later in the day, the director replied asking the staffer to advise those taking calls from the public to record details of people raising issues to work out "the location and extent of any issues". Commissioner Kennedy is currently on leave until the end of the year. Deputy Commissioner Barron is also on leave but is not expected to return. The special inquiry report was completed in late June, but the premier told parliament it had to be cleared by government lawyers before being publicly released.
The Age
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
WA Nationals leader frustrated by lack of answers over state election debacle
Shadow Electoral Affairs Minister and Nationals Leader Shane Love has called on the WA government to immediately release the report into the state election debacle, after clashing with Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael in budget estimates on Wednesday night. 'The lack of any concrete answers during Budget Estimates has only reinforced the urgent need for the premier to immediately release the final report of the Special Inquiry into the 2025 State Election,' Love said. Love took particular interest in the $86 million contract the WA Electoral Commission struck with recruitment agency PersolKelly without the knowledge of cabinet ministers. 'Despite an hour of questioning the minister for electoral affairs, we are still no closer to knowing who authorised this $86 million contract or how it was allowed to proceed in the shadows,' Love said. Love has previously ascribed some of the blame for the WA election debacle to the outsourcing of election functions to PersolKelly, and the contract was probed during the inquiry undertaken by former WA Governor Malcolm McCusker. The inquiry report is currently with WA Premier Roger Cook, who told estimates on Thursday it would be tabled in parliament when it returns from the winter break in early August. In the WAEC estimates meeting on Tuesday, Michael said the commission had paid PersolKelly between $19 million and $20 million. He revealed PersolKelly will remain engaged by the electoral commission to help run the local government elections due in October. Michael also revealed the cabinet was not made aware of the WAEC's decision to enter into the $86 million contract with PersolKelly.
Sydney Morning Herald
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
WA Nationals leader frustrated by lack of answers over state election debacle
Shadow Electoral Affairs Minister and Nationals Leader Shane Love has called on the WA government to immediately release the report into the state election debacle, after clashing with Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael in budget estimates on Wednesday night. 'The lack of any concrete answers during Budget Estimates has only reinforced the urgent need for the premier to immediately release the final report of the Special Inquiry into the 2025 State Election,' Love said. Love took particular interest in the $86 million contract the WA Electoral Commission struck with recruitment agency PersolKelly without the knowledge of cabinet ministers. 'Despite an hour of questioning the minister for electoral affairs, we are still no closer to knowing who authorised this $86 million contract or how it was allowed to proceed in the shadows,' Love said. Love has previously ascribed some of the blame for the WA election debacle to the outsourcing of election functions to PersolKelly, and the contract was probed during the inquiry undertaken by former WA Governor Malcolm McCusker. The inquiry report is currently with WA Premier Roger Cook, who told estimates on Thursday it would be tabled in parliament when it returns from the winter break in early August. In the WAEC estimates meeting on Tuesday, Michael said the commission had paid PersolKelly between $19 million and $20 million. He revealed PersolKelly will remain engaged by the electoral commission to help run the local government elections due in October. Michael also revealed the cabinet was not made aware of the WAEC's decision to enter into the $86 million contract with PersolKelly.
