The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) launched the much-awaited digital certificate access and confirmation platform last Thursday.
Patrick Areghan, head of the national office in Nigeria highlighted the purpose and many benefits of the initiative.
According to Areghan, the new digital platform, developed in conjunction with Botosoft Technology, one of the world’s foremost security technology providers, is being implemented to streamline the issuance and verification of certificates from all over the world.
“The platform involves mobile and web-based application that is designed specifically for candidates, individuals, institutions, and organisations. It holds powerful features that enable users to access, share, request, and confirm certificates. It is also used to recover candidates’ forgotten/lost examination numbers,” he said.
Moyosola Adeshina, acting head of public affairs at WAEC, had earlier explained during a media briefing that candidates who have sat for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the past and present are able to access and share the original copies of their certificates with ease via the digital platform app.
Adeshina said the platform is a secure web and mobile-based application that enables users to access, share and confirm certificates, and the certificate identity verification ensures the integrity of access to certificates.
The cost implication, according to Areghan, is N7,500 to access the platform. He said the cost is for setting up the app, and a candidate pays the money once and continues to use the app afterwards. There is no limit to the number of times a user can use the app.
However, users are still required to pay the sum of N3,500 per share, and N5,000 to confirm the certificate respectively.
Candidates can through the app channel (www.waec.org), initiate an instant request for confirmation to be sent to the interested institution or organisation anywhere in the world, and the contact will receive a confirmation email from WAEC via an encrypted channel.
In this instance, interested parties, otherwise known as the third parties or institutions with the candidate’s consent, visit the platform to confirm the authenticity of the certificate they received. The module, according to WAEC, can process a single or bulk confirmation request.
On how to create an account for the digital certificate, WAEC said: “First, you will go to the website, www.waec.org, to get started. Then, you click on the ‘create account button’, and move on to setting up the account. As a candidate, select the ‘certificate access’ or as an institution, the ‘candidate confirmation’.
“Then enter the information required, confirm the information provided and proceed to ‘sign up’. Note, you must enter your name as captured on your WAEC certificate. Then enter the verification code sent to your email and click the ‘submit’ button. The next step is to log into your account using your registered email and password.”
It said with these steps duly followed, a user can now access, share, request confirmation, and confirm his or her WAEC certificate with ease.
According to the examination body, the platform comes with many other benefits such as the ability of candidates to seamlessly generate and share certificates. It said candidates will no longer have to share photocopies of their certificates with institutions and organisations.
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It said: “The digital certificate platform offers users security/data protection; it gives certificate holders the power to prevent unauthorised users from accessing their data.
“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 certificates are now easy to carry about without any fear of loss or theft, and the recovery of lost certificates is possible with the app. The certificate owners can also print their digital certificates in high quality to have a physical copy if they so desire.
The platform, which is available to those who have taken WASSCE from 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.
