Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi Marton from the St James Seminary Senior High School came first, Dzandu Selorm from Labone Senior High School placed second and Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi also from St James Seminary placed third.

The three were honoured at the 72nd Annual WAEC Council Meeting as the best three (3) out of the 2,327,342 students from the five-member countries who sat for the 2023 WASSCE.

The minister commended the students when the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah, led the students to pay a courtesy call on the Minister.

He congratulated the students for making Ghana proud and implored them to excel in their various fields of study at the tertiary level.

Dr. Adutwum also urged them to use the awards as a springboard to win many more laurels for themselves, their families and the country at large.

He added that “Life is a journey, you begin today, you work hard and by the time you realise you are up there.”

He recommended two books to the award winners: “Ten Thousand Hour Rule” and the “Heroes Journey” by Joseph Campbell. “Apart from the Bible, let these books guide you and you will climb to become the best in the world,” he counselled them.

The three award winners appreciated the minister for the warm reception accorded them,  and assured him of their continuous commitment to academic excellence.

On Tuesday, 19th March 2024, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the three – Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi Marton (St James Seminary Senior High School), Dzandu Selorm (Labone Senior High School) and Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi (St James Seminary) – were awarded at the 72nd Annual WAEC Council Meeting as the best three out of the 2,327,342 students from the five member countries who sat for the WASSCE 2023.

For the first prize, the overall best student took home $1,500, the second-placed winner received $1,200 and the third-prize winner received $900 from the WAEC Endowment Fund.

Currently, Masters Amo-Kodieh and Mr Dzandu are reading Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology while Mr Asenso-Gyambibi is a Computer Engineering student at the Ashesi University.

The International Excellence Awards for WASCCE for School Candidates are presented to the three overall best candidates from the member countries that subscribe to the WASSCE, namely Ghana, the Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Representing Ghana at the awards ceremony were council members of WAEC, led by the Chief Government nominee, who is also the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah; Ghana’s Non-Council Member on the Board of Trustees of the WAEC Endowment Fund, Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I; the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mrs Mamle Andrews; the Head of National Office (HNO), Wendy Enyonam Addy-Lamptey, and all the other members.

The International Excellence Awards was instituted in 1985 to reward and celebrate candidates with outstanding performances in the Council’s Senior High School Certificate examinations.

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The four excelled in the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and were assisted to apply to the universities, which offered them admission.

According to the authorities, two of the inmates are going to the University of Ghana, one to University of Cape Coast and another to the Catholic University of Ghana, Fiapre.

They will read four-year degree programmes in Public Health, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, and Human Resource Management respectively.

Public Relations Officer(PRO) at the prison, DSP Dennis Peasah, disclosed this to Daily Guide in an interview.

Throwing more light on efforts to reform inmates during years of incarceration, the Head of the Inmate Education Unit of the prison,  Superintendent Francis Nsoh, said all the courses are weekend programmes and the inmates shall be assigned officers to enable them to attend lectures at the designed times.

“In order to conceal their identities, they will not put on identifiable uniforms so we don’t expose them to discrimination,” he explained.

According to him, this is the first time the Central Prison has chalked this feat, saying it is part of the reformation being encouraged by the Deputy Director of Prisons, Williams Kular, Bono Ahafo and Bono East Regional Prisons Commander.

Asked whether this will facilitate their speedy release even if their sentence periods are not due, Supt. Nsoh said that was not within the domain of prison authorities, but said it may facilitate their qualification for amnesty or presidential pardon, “but that is beyond the domain of our jurisdiction.”

The spokesperson, however, said the challenge, is the ability to pay all their admission fees.

“We are trying to secure scholarship package for those admitted to the Catholic University, but those going to the University of Ghana are to pay GH¢12,000, while the one going to UCC is to pay GH¢2,940 as admission fees,” he disclosed.

He, therefore, appealed for assistance from individuals and benevolent organisations to help the inmates pay their fees in full.

DSP Peasah noted that there is no special allocation from government to pay the inmates fees.

The prison authorities, he went on, try to make do from their meagre allocation which is GH¢1.80p a day per inmate.

This, he described as woefully inadequate, and said that the last time it was reviewed was a little over ten years ago.

“It is a challenge feeding them though we also engage in farming to support government allocations. I must say we also get donations from benevolent individuals and organisations who occasionally come to our aid, especially during special occasions such as Christmas and Easter festivities,” he added.

He revealed the inmate population is a little over 800, though it was originally built to accommodate 450.

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Despite fulfilling their duties and the subsequent release of results, they remain in limbo, waiting their rightful remuneration.

The examiners assert that, this delay in payment has become a recurring issue on an annual basis, prompting them to call for a change in the current system.

Despite the release of the results by WAEC in 2023, the examiners report that they are still awaiting their compensation.

“I started marking in 2010, and everything was okay, until recent times, the payments are not forthcoming. We have to wait for so many weeks or even months before we are paid. That is my concern, that is what we going through now as examiners.

“When you contact WAEC too, they will tell you the government has not given them the money. We don’t even have anybody to fight for us. They do everything against us. Look at the stress we went through during the marking, up till now we have not been paid.”

Another also said, “In fact, I’m even fed up to tell you the truth, I’m getting fed up because this is not the first time they are doing this. They have been delaying our payments for about two years now.”

“WAEC pressure examiners in which we have to work overnight. The employer-employee relationship is not going well. They should have even alerted us if there are any distortions, but they don’t do that and this has become a problem now,” one of the examiners also complained.

Though authorities at the WAEC office in Sunyani refused to speak on camera, they have acknowledged the outstanding payments owed to the examiners and assured them that they will be remunerated once the funds are released by the government.

The West African Examinations Council, on December 18, released the provisional results of candidates who sat for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), blocking the results of 4,878 candidates for failing to return learning support materials supplied to them by their schools.

WAEC also withheld some subject results of candidates from 235 schools for giving artificial intelligence-generated answers during the 2023 WASSCE.

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The President said the good performance proves the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy is working effectively.

He made the declaration in a Facebook post following the release of the results on Monday, December 18, 2023.

“The free SHS is indeed working,” he celebrated.

Despite the widespread jubilation over the 2023 WASSCE, the results of 4,878 candidates who failed to return learning support materials made available to them have been blocked.

In a statement, the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) revealed the subject results of 3,647 candidates have also been cancelled for the offence of “bringing foreign materials into the examination hall.

In addition, the entire results of 839 candidates have also be cancelled for possession of mobile
phones in the examination halls.

The subject results of 4,280 candidates and the entire results of 1,005 have been withheld for various suspected offences

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Below is President Akufo-Addo’s post:

In a statement issued on Monday, December 18, WAEC said subject results from 235 schools are being withheld due to candidates providing AI answers.

But this to GNECC raises serious concerns about the credibility and reliability of the examination process.

“The is a crucial examination that determines the academic future of thousands of Ghanaian students. It is vital that the integrity and fairness of this examination are upheld to ensure a level playing field for all candidates.

“The use of AI-generated answers, if proven true, poses a significant threat to the integrity of the examination system. It undermines the efforts made by hard-working students who rely on their knowledge and skills to excel in their studies,” a statement from GNECC read.

Emphasising it firmly believes in the importance of maintaining high ethical standards in education, GNECC says it is committed to investigating these claims thoroughly and collaborating with relevant stakeholders.

“It is essential to identify any loopholes or weaknesses in the examination process that may have allowed such misconduct to occur. By doing so, necessary measures can be put in place to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“While it is crucial to maintain examination integrity, it is equally important to protect the rights of individual students involved in this matter. GNECC urges WAEC to handle this situation with utmost care and ensure that no innocent student is unjustly penalized,” the statement added.

The probe GNECC noted will bring transparency and fairness, stating students who have been affected by these allegations deserve a fair opportunity to present their case and defend themselves against any accusations.

“By fostering a culture of integrity and emphasizing the value of genuine learning, we can deter students from resorting to such unethical practices.

“GNECC encourages WAEC to establish a robust mechanism that allows affected students to appeal the decision and provide evidence to support their innocence.”

Meanwhile, GNECC has recommended the implementation of stricter security measures during examinations.

“This includes thorough invigilation, enhanced use of technology to detect cheating, and continuous training for examination supervisors.

Furthermore, it is essential for educational institutions to prioritize educating students about the ethical implications of using AI-generated answers or any other form of academic dishonesty,” the statement demanded.

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The Council, in a statement signed by its Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, said the results have been posted online hence candidates who so desire may access their results at www.waecgh.org.

The Council has said 4,878 candidates who failed to return learning support materials made available to them cannot access their results online.

Their results according to WAEC has been blocked and should contact their schools.

The Council further revealed that, the subject results of 3,647 candidates have been cancelled for the offence of “bringing foreign materials into the examination hall.

Also, the entire results of 839 candidates have also be cancelled for possession of mobile
phones in the examination halls.

The subject results of 4,280 candidates and the entire results of 1,005 have been withheld for various suspected offences

“Yet still, some subject results of candidates from 235 schools have been withheld for
collusion and the use of artificial intelligence generated answers. These cases are still under investigation. The withheld results of these candidates may be released or cancelled depending on the outcome of investigations,” the statement noted.

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Below is the full statement:

Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi revealed that at a press conference in Accra.

“It is sad to note that some of the schools have devised grand schemes for cheating at their examination centers. “Information reaching us indicates that some of the schools charge their candidates ranging between GH¢500 and GH¢1,000 each to enable them to get assistance during the examination, and this practice has given some of the students a certain sense of entitlement” he bemoaned.

Mr. Kapi also revealed that the “proprietors of some schools have shown open hostility towards the monitoring teams, prompting us to call for support from the Ghana Police Service to ensure their safety.”

“Some people have been arrested for attempting to bribe our personnel” he added.

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The West Africa Senior High Certificate Examination began today as candidates sat for the English Oral paper across the country.

Adom news‘ Obrempongba Owusu observed this when he visited Nkwanta Senior High School.

A total of 538 students are expected to partake in the annual examination.

Speaking with the Municipal Exams Coordinator, Prince Amponsah Safori, he was in high hopes about a successful examination as the candidates and the invigilators have been sensitized against exam malpractices.

He further debunked some allegations made about some headmasters in schools collecting monies to compromise the examination process.

Some of the candidates who spoke after the English Oral paper were optimistic about passing their exams.

According to them, it is their prayer the subsequent examination papers are the same to enable them write and pass to further their studies at the tertiary level.

The candidates promised to abide by all rules of the examination.

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The move, according to the council, is to curb exam malpractices.

The serialisation process requires that all candidates in the same hall receive the same question, but with different question numbers.

Addressing the media, the Head of Public Affairs at the Council, John Kapi says the chosen subjects will be serialised because those subjects can’t be compromised.

“Serialisation is not anything that is landing from space. Besides nothing has changed about the structure of the questions. It is just that we have serialised some of them. It is our trade secret, and we want to maintain that. We are not unduly punishing anybody, it is the same question just that there is some serialisation. There are some of these papers that are high stake and so for those high stake papers we would want to serialise them.”

“Secondly it is a very expensive venture to get into, it is time-consuming and all of that. And so we concentrate more on the high stake papers and then there are a few of them that we consider as low risk, and so we don’t serialise those ones,” he said.

A total of 447,204 candidates drawn from 975 schools are expected to sit for this year’s WASSCE.

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In all, a total of 447,204 candidates, comprising 211,834 males and 235,370 females will sit for the examination at 834 centres across the country.

The total candidature represents an increase of 24,321 over last year’s candidature of 422,883.

In all, final year students from 975 second-cycle schools will participate in the examination, which is being written for the second time in Ghana.

There will be a total of 834 supervisors, 2,243 assistant supervisors and 14,907 invigilators to man the examination.

Ghanaian candidates are writing the Ghana-only WASSCE-SC for the second successive time because the other four-member countries of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) — Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia — have returned to the May/June calendar and had administered the WASSCE for their school candidates.

The four countries have had their academic calendars streamlined to enable them to write the examination in May/June, as Ghana sticks to the ‘new normal’ calendar occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Head of National Office (HNO) of WAEC, Wendy Enyonam Addy-Lamptey wished candidates well in the examination and cautioned them against engaging in the act of cheating which could lead to the withholding of their papers for investigations.

She said parents and school authorities should also advise their children and students against taking mobile phones to the examination halls.

“To the candidates, I want to tell you that you can pass your examination without cheating.

Make sure you prepare well for the papers and read the questions very well before answering them,” she emphasised.

Regional breakdown

Statistics from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that the Ashanti Region would present the highest number of candidates; 107,061, made up of 51,404 males and 55,657 females.

The Ahafo, Bono and Bono East regions together would have the second highest number of candidature of 65,731, comprising 31,341 males and 34,390 females.

Eastern Region comes third in place with 60,516 candidates – 28,120 males and 32,396 females, while the Central Region, with some of the top second cycle schools in the country has 54,084 candidates involving 24,520 males and 29,564 females.

Others

Forty-two thousand three hundred and thirty eight candidates (19,705 males and 22,633 females) would participate in the examination in the Greater Accra Region, while the Volta and Oti regions would jointly present 37,594 candidates; 18,408 males and 19,186 females.

In the case of the Western and Western North regions, 32,705 candidates would sit for the WASSCE SC.

Moreover, 25,295 candidates (13,297 males and 11,998 females) are expected to participate in the examination in the Northern, North East and Savannah regions.

The entry figures of the candidates also showed that 13,826 (6,370 males and 7,456 females) final-year senior high school students would write the examination in the Upper East Region.

The Upper West Region would have 8,054 candidates (3,836 males and 4,218 females). 
   

Timetable

Per the timetable, all candidates would take the Oral English examination on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 while Social Studies would be written on Monday, August 28, 2023.

English Language is slated for Thursday, September 7, 2023 with Mathematics taking place on Thursday, September 14, 2023.

Integrated Science is scheduled for Monday, September 18, 2023.

The examination ends on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 with Literature-In-English (Drama & Poetry), Jewellery and Woodwork.

the examination, visually impaired and hearing impaired candidates are to be allowed one and half times the time allotted to other candidates.

Examination rules

At a press conference in March this year, WAEC said the rules and regulations for dealing with cases of irregularity in the council’s examinations for both the WASSCE and the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) had been revised, and that they included destruction of exhibits, posting live questions on the Internet, refusal to grant timely access to the school premises and the misconduct of examination officials.

It said the revised rules were available on the council’s website and heads of schools were urged to sensitise their candidates to them.

Meanwhile, the government has released GH¢50.5 million to WAEC for the organisation of both the WASSCE-SC and this year’s BECE scheduled for August 7-11, 2023.

According to the breakdown, GH¢10.5 million would be used to conduct the BECE and then GH¢40 million.

In a related development, the BECE for both public schools and private individuals would be written simultaneously from August 7-11, 2023 with over 600,000 candidates.