Ten invigilators have been arrested for allegedly engaging in examination malpractice in the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has confirmed.
The suspects, who have since been handed over to the police for further investigations and subsequent prosecution, were said to have taken snapshots of the question papers and forwarded them to some persons to provide answers to them.
One invigilator was arrested in the Greater Accra Region, six in the Bono East Region, another one in the Ashanti Region and then two in the Bono Region.
“We know that the examination is going well, and also some invigilators were found with question papers, snapshots of the question papers, and they have been arrested, and we have sent them outside.
“But the Ghana Education Service has advised all invigilators and supervisors to do the right thing and make sure that the examination is conducted without any examination malpractice and incidents anywhere,” the Head of the National Office of WAEC, Dr Rosemond Wilson, said in an interaction with journalists after a tour of some BECE centres in Accra yesterday.
She said there were other reports the council was investigating, adding that the necessary security measures had been put in place to ensure that no illegality was recorded.
The measures, she said, included asking district directors of education and the supervisors to take their question papers straight to the examination halls after picking them (question papers) and “make sure that they don’t allow any invigilator or supervisor to take snapshots of them”.
Centres
Areas she visited during the tour included the Accra High School, Ring Road East Basic 1 and the Kanda Estate 3&5 Basic School BECE centres.
At the Accra High School Centre, a total of 134 candidates from five schools are writing the BECE and the supervisor, Patrick Sakyi Ofei, said, “So far everything is smooth and we don’t have any absentees.”
The Ring Road East 1 Basic School Centre, however, recorded two absentees – a boy and a girl.
The Kanda Estate 3&5 Basic School BECE Centre had four schools with 229 candidates writing the examination.
There was no absentee.
Dr Wilson said directors and supervisors had been told to get assistant supervisors to go round and see what the invigilators were doing in the examination halls.
Those apprehended would be taken through the rules and regulations of the examination and then reported to the GES as well.
Dr Wilson also advised candidates to adhere to the rules and regulations of the examination and not engage in any form of cheating since the questions were not beyond their reach as they were based on what they were taught in the syllabus.
“Normally, we brief the supervisors, and then we expect them to give the invigilators the necessary briefing that we have given to them.
So we will entreat the supervisors to do their work and do it well so that the exam can be written in a good atmosphere and with the correct arrangements,” she said.
Sharing her thoughts during her rounds, she said, “The exam is being conducted in a very good atmosphere.
The students are relaxed and I could see that some of them have learnt and were answering the questions, and the atmosphere too was relaxed”.
Timetable
Per the timetable for this year, candidates began the examination on Wednesday with Social Studies and Computing.
They wrote English Language and Career Technology yesterday, while Science and Ghanaian Language will be written today, June 13, 2025.
Mathematics and Religious and Moral Education are scheduled for Monday, June 16, 2025, while French, Creative Art and Design will be done on Tuesday and the last paper, Arabic, is on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
The BECE results are expected to be out by August 2025.
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