The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), with the assistance of security personnel, has picked up seven teachers, one of them an invigilator, at different examination centres for their involvement in examination malpractice.
The teachers were allegedly found either solving questions of the ongoing examination or with phones and tablets in their possession, with answers to questions in the ongoing exam after they were captured on camera transmitting the materials to the students.
One of the teachers, Flora Ashietey of the St John Bosco Basic School, was found allegedly with a tablet containing questions and answers of the exam at the Trinity Lutheran School in Tema, while Albert Adu-Gyan, a teacher of Oxford School Complex in Dunkwa-On-Offin, was apprehended while allegedly capturing images of the Religious and Moral Education questions he had answered in a classroom located on the Dunkwa Senior High Technical School premises.
For suspect Kwarteng Asiedu Derick, who was an invigilator at the Ashanti Nkoranza D/A JSS, he was caught allegedly with captured photos of the Integrated Science Paper Two that he had shared on a WhatsApp group called “Amabame Teachers Page” which had 21 participants.
At Obuasi, three teachers arrested at one of the examination centres at the Kwabenafori Exams Centre, are currently at the Obuasi Central Police Station in relation with a video circulated last Monday by the Educate Africa Institute (EAI).
External support
In an interview, the Head of the Public Affairs of WAEC, John Kapi, explained that when such suspects were picked up, they were handed over to the police, while the Ghana Education Service (GES) was notified because the teachers, supervisors, and invigilators were staff of the GES.
He expressed worry that the offenders were teachers who were supposed to know better and urged them to desist from attempting to help candidates at the examination centres.
Mr Kapi called on teachers and examination officials to allow the candidates to do independent work, insisting that the children were capable of passing the exam without any external support.
He wondered why teachers should go to that extent when they knew that the rules and regulations governing the examination banned teachers from loitering around the exam centres.
“For the teachers, we need them to show a level of integrity by allowing the children they taught to give testimony of whatever it is that they have offered them in the classroom,” Mr Kapi told the Daily Graphic.
He expressed the confidence that the candidates were well prepared and psyched to write the exam after three years of preparing for it.
Mr Kapi added that the candidates were more than capable to answer the questions because the questions were based on what they had been taught in the three years that they were in the junior high school.
“So, we think that each of them is capable of passing by doing independent work,” he stressed.
Officials
The Head of Public Affairs of WAEC cautioned invigilators and supervisors to ensure that the examination was taken in an incident-free environment, reminding them of their crucial role in the conduct of the exam.
“For our invigilators and supervisors, they have been put there purposely to ensure that the candidates have a peaceful atmosphere to write the examination.”
“They should carry out their duties to ensure that we do not have people who are not supposed to be there, coming in to attempt to offer help to the students,” Mr Kapi advised the examination officials.
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