The West Africa Examination Council has described as false, reports of examination leakages in the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Various social media platforms have been inundated with claims that some papers of the 2019 WASSCE have leaked but WAEC in a strongly worded statement said nothing of sort has happened.
Deputy Director, Public Relations for WAEC Agnes Teye-Cudjoe in a statement revealed that the Council is closely monitoring the examinations and has received information of some worrying trends it needs to deal with.
The information WAEC has received, Mrs. Teye-Cudjoe said regards examination malpractices and “planned cheating patterns at some centers”.
She attributed the examination malpractices identified by WAEC to poor supervision and invigilation and gave worrying details about an increasing spate of pre-arranged cheating in some examination centers.
“In some cases, pre-arranged cheating has been reported by insiders with school authorities creating hideouts where teachers knowledgeable in the subject area wait for the questions paper packets to be opened. Snapshots of these questions are taken, solved and answers sent to candidates in the examination hall,” she stated.
The pre-arranged cheating trend according to her has led to a spike in the smuggling of mobile phones to examination halls by students who receive solutions to questions through the devices.
Another development, Mrs. Teye-Cudjoe highlighted in her statement is the use of rogue websites and Whatsapp platforms for cheating purposes.
“These website operators, with the connivance of some invigilators and supervisors, receive snapshots of the question papers from the centers after the question paper packets are opened. They then solve the questions and post the answers on their websites and WhatsApp groups of candidates who have paid for their services,”
In tackling these malpractices, WAEC says it has not only increases inspection and monitoring of the examination at the various centers but withdrawn and “annulled the appointment of some supervisors and invigilators pending further sanctions”
The WAEC statement also revealed that the Council has formally lodged a complaint at the Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service about the operations of the rogue websites.
WAEC is also investigating a number of candidates suspected to have been involved in examination malpractices.
Story by: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
