By: Kobina Baidoo
The West African Examination Council has announced the arrest of six teachers and several students who have been found culpable for their involvement in malpractices during the ongoing West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
The Council also reported that numerous students have been arrested for related issues.
Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kappi in an engagement with reporters, revealed that teachers were allegedly found writing answers for candidates. “In terms of teachers, I can say so far, we have about six of them who have been picked up for various offences. The candidates are a lot. It is not easy to give the number right now. We are still putting together the figures, and as and when we are able to compile the list, we will be able to put out the figure,” he said.
“We have looked at the numbers, and basically, it’s about them having foreign material on them and then, in some cases, there’s a report about them writing on the board for the candidates to copy.”
The WAEC official noted that information reaching him indicates that examination malpractices are widespread across WAEC writing centers, and have commenced the interrogation of a number of teachers suspected to be part of these exam violations. “We have picked up in some of the areas where we were told that they wanted to collect money, and then assist the candidates; We set our monitors around; there were actually widespread examination malpractices. They were able to pick up a number of them. In fact, it’s overwhelming”