An extensive investigation is underway concerning the examination scripts of over 22,000 candidates due to suspicions of widespread cheating.
Results in specific subjects for 312 candidates and three private candidates have been invalidated.
This action was taken because they either carried foreign materials, including prepared notes, textbooks, and printed materials into the exam hall, or were found collaborating with other candidates.
Additionally, results for 41 school candidates and one private candidate have been nullified for possessing mobile phones in the examination hall. The results of several other candidates are also being withheld.
In response to these cases of exam malpractice, the Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, has mentioned that severe violations could lead to candidates being banned for several years.
“The subject officers are looking at the report of the examiners, they are also comparing the reports with the scripts so when they do that some results that may not necessarily be withheld will be released.
“But where we find that indeed there is some truth in whatever the examiners have reported, we give a hearing to the candidate. So the candidate will be invited to come to the office and then they would answer questions on whatever we discovered in their scripts,” he said.
However, for minor offenses, candidates may have the opportunity to retake the examination the following year.
He also suggested that the high rate of malpractice may be linked to the limited contact time that teachers have with students, causing teachers to feel they haven’t adequately prepared students, leading them to engage in cheating during the exam.
The Executive Director of the Institute of Education Studies, Dr. Peter Anti, expressed his dissatisfaction with the recurring incidents of cheating but welcomed WAEC’s actions to address the issue.
The Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, shared a similar sentiment, noting a decline in the number of students with canceled results and suggesting that the final outcome will become clear as the extensive examination of results progresses.
“I see a decline in the number of students whose entire August results were cancelled from 73 to 41 and I also see another decline in the number of students who had some of their subject’s results cancelled. When we hear the conclusion from the huge number of students whose results are been scrutinized, it will give us a definite outcome,” he said.