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The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has warned private candidates sitting this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) against indulging in examination malpractice as the law will crack down on anyone caught in the act.
This is because any form of examination malpractice is detrimental to the country’s development because its human resources are not sufficient to meet its developmental needs.
The Upper West Regional Controller of WAEC, Donald Ture, who gave the warning in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, indicated that the council was doing everything within its power to end examination malpractices.
He explained that exam malpractice is more endemic in private exams as candidates who fail school exams want to use all available means to pass the exam, legal or not.
“From our observation over the years, private candidates are more disappointed than school exam candidates because some of them have written it many times but have not passed and they are afraid that they will not try again. Candidates want to do everything to pass,” he explained.
The controller cited common irregularities including impersonation, sending foreign materials and mobile phones to the examination hall and some acting as couriers to deliver foreign materials to candidates in the examination hall.
He advised candidates intending to cheat in examinations to take a cue from the recent conviction and imprisonment of an impersonator in the recently concluded BECE by the Circuit Court in Wa.
Mr. Tur explained that all candidates will be thoroughly searched and their admission notices will be checked before being admitted to the examination halls.
He also appealed to the Muslim candidates who arrive at the examination centers wearing hijab to cooperate with the examination officials by changing the hijabs to be checked before entering the examination hall.
“Nobody is stopping you from wearing the hijab, but when you get there, remove it and let them search you, then you put it back on,” he said.
Ture explained that examination malpractice is a criminal offense against WAEC and the state and no person has the power to pardon anyone caught in the act.
The WAEC Comptroller has observed a decrease in the number of candidates registered for this year’s private WASSCE examinations in the region, as well as incidents of candidates cheating and passing school examinations and some candidates “registering” the examinations at gold mind” centres.
However, he said the council has taken strict measures to curb undue advantage taken by some candidates to register in some centers where they can cheat in exams.
In Upper West Region, 523 candidates registered for 2021, 356 candidates for English language, 568 candidates for English and 389 candidates registered to write Mathematics (Core) paper in the ongoing WASSCE for private examinations.
In 2022, 147 people registered for Social Studies, 233 in 2021, 292 in 2022 and 476 in 2021 for Integrated Science.
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