WAEC begins probe into allegations of examination malpractices in WASSCE

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has served notice that schools stand the risk of having their entire papers cancelled if found to have engaged in examination malpractices.

This caution comes after allegations of examination malpractices in some Senior High Schools in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were reported.

“When we are writing the exams and we have irregular activities before or after the exams, all these are punishable. Some of these are such that you can have the entire results for that paper cancelled.

“The onus rests on students and parents to ensure that children study hard to merit whatever certificate that they will be getting,” WAEC Branch Controller in the Ashanti region, Divine Worlanyo Agbenyo said.

With just three days into the ongoing WASSCE, there have been reports of student-agitations in parts of the country.

The students complained of strict examination supervision and the 1.5-metre social distancing protocols in the exam halls.

Some students of Tweneboa Kodua Senior High School at Kumawu in the Ashanti Region on Monday threatened to boycott the exams saying their school authorities were being ‘too strict’ during the supervision of their first paper.

Video footage from that school earlier this week saw students rioting and toppling school properties, including furniture over the same allegation.

They refused to eat meals served in the dining hall.

According to WAEC, teachers in some schools have been implicated in the misconduct resulting in the student-agitations recorded in some areas.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa has warned that any student found to have engaged in acts of vandalism during the exam will be severely dealt with.