Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), an education think tank, has urged the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to expedite the prosecution of candidates who were arrested for misconduct during the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
While EduWatch commended the partnership between the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and WAEC to enhance exam security, it noted security breaches that resulted in the premature circulation of exam questions on social media.
The organization called for swift investigations and the public release of outcomes in these cases.
EduWatch also demanded sanctions against school heads/owners cited by WAEC for obstructing monitors from entering exam centers. It stressed the importance of resourcing WAEC to hire adequate Non-GES External Supervisors at every exam center for every paper.
Additionally, EduWatch recommended that the Ghana Education Service (GES) escalate the sanctions for teachers involved in misconduct to outright dismissal, making a strong ethical stand against staff participation in exam malpractices.
Furthermore, the organization urged the government to amend the WAEC Law, as the current sanctions outlined in the law are outdated.
According to EduWatch, the 2006 WAEC Act is no longer sufficient to address the complexities of contemporary exam malpractice and fraud.
“As far back as 2021, WAEC submitted at a stakeholder convening in Koforidua hosted by Parliament, with the Ministry of Education, Security Agencies and GES in attendance that, the sophistry in today’s examination malpractice and fraud was fast overtaking the deterrent relevance of the WAEC Act, 2006 (Act 719). The sanctions regime provided in the Law is significantly outdated, whereas the scope is too constricted to provide a responsive legal framework for a credible examination. This makes the pursuit of adequate sanctions/successful prosecution of examination malpractices/fraud culprits very challenging. The Ministry of Education must prioritise the amendment of the WAEC Law.”